Operation: Shadow (STOPPED)
by Agent-MC-SkyeHill
Summary: "Join us and have your genetics modified or spend the rest of you life in a cell with no other human interaction and no internet or electronics. Basically hell, she had summarised." Skye gets picked up by the team but this time things are slightly more different. Skye chooses her ultimatum wisely and now faces the results of the modifications and the dangers that follow it. AU.
1. Decisions

Operation: Shadows

Chapter 1: Decisions

The gentle hum of the plane did little to ease her conflicted thoughts. She lay quietly on the bed, staring blankly up at the heavily reinforced room. Cage. Apparently hacking into a super secrete spy agency, that half the world didn't even know existed, can get you a lifetime in a maximum security cell, and not with the normal government, no, that would be too easy, no, it has to be maximum security with the super secrete spy agency you just hacked into for fun.

Apparently breaking into a super secret spy agency with an old mac, in a dingy (deeply loved) van with borrowed Wi-Fi from the nearby coffee shop warrants a job offer at said super secret spy agency. If you could call it a job that is.

Join us and have your genetics modified or spend the rest of you life in a cell with no other human interaction and no internet or electronics. Basically hell, she had summarised. She moved slowly to lie on her side, looking at the bland metallic interview table. She was given 24 hours to make her choice with a little glimpse of the life she would have if she choose to go to jail. If she were honest, she didn't think she would last the 24 hours, she was already going insane with boredom and possible withdrawals with the way her hands were shaking or that could just be the nerves of the decision she is about to make.

It's not exactly easy to decided to give up your life in one way or another to someone, something,else. Be held prisoner for the rest of your life or work for us for the rest of your life, either way she was committing herself to this super secret spy agency so she might as well do it and be on good terms with them, maybe they would give her unrestricted access to the internet at all times and basically have freedom to do whatever she wanted. She would have to enquire about that when she told them her decision.

Sighing, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, reluctantly shifting her body to sit up, her hands placed lazily behind her on the bed in an attempt to appear calm and collected as she stared with an almost bored expression at the one way mirror. Unsure as to whether or not there was someone on the other side, she simply raised and eyebrow and called;

"Hello? Anyone there? Ready to tell you guys my decision, kinda get the feeling that you guys already knew what I was going to choose before you even met me, cause after all, you guys are a super secrete spy agency."

Her eyes wandered over the room till she found the camera and stared at it for a few moments, hoping that someone would soon come relieve her of her boredom and from being in this damn cage.

"Fine, don't come and hear my wonderful decision! I'll just here and sulk" She grumbled to herself, glancing hopefully at the door.

No such luck.

"Urgh" She groaned, flopping herself down onto the bed. She was acting like a child and she knew it but it was extremely annoying to just be kept here by herself when there was so much to explore.

_'Curiosity killed the cat'_

She scowled, stupid nuns and their damn sayings (yes she knew that everyone said that but she was still going to blame the nuns that made her childhood a living hell) but in all honesty, her curiosity was causing all these annoying feelings of restlessness, which was no doubt going to get her killed of boredom (okay maybe a slight over exaggeration but again, evil nuns!)

Finally the door opened quietly as a middle aged man walked in, holding onto a file as he gestured for her to sit in the seat at the table. She eyed the man, what was his name again? Coleslaw? Nah who has a surname like? Colemen? No wait it was Coulson, Agent Coulson. She muttered under her breath about the chair at the table looking extremely cold as she sunk into said chair. She stared at the file before lifting her eyes to meet Coulson, he gave her a small smile as he opened the file.

"So, Skye, I take it you have made a decision?" He asked kindly, making eye contact with her, no doubt to try and put her at ease and damn it, it was working. She relaxed slightly into her chair and nodded.

"Yeah, I realised either way I'm committing the rest of my life to this super secret spy agency of yours, might as well commit myself willingly and be on the good side where there is hopefully unrestricted access to the internet?" She replied, side eyeing him with hopefulness.

Coulson let out a laugh, it seemed so full of optimism and happiness and all that mushy stuff. Skye found it weird considering his line of work, she always thought these people had low chuckle if they had to laugh at all, maybe an eye roll to go with it, but Coulson seemed to genuine in his laugh that she fought to keep a smile off her on face.

"Yes, you will have unrestricted access, I would be worried if you didn't because what you are going to do for us requires it. We need a hacker on this team and I think you are the right person for that. You think outside the box, you don't think like an agent, not yet at least, and that is exactly what this team needs. Knowing that I know that you have agreed to join us, I take it that it also means you have accepted Agent May's conditions as well?" He asked with a hint of curiosity.

Skye just nodded in response, biting her lip nervously, Agent May had came in after Coulson left, staring down at her with unforgiving and cold eyes and told her the catch of her joining S.H.I.E.L.D, having her genetics modified _slightly. _Agent May had said 'slightly' with a quirk of her lips and she wasn't going to kid herself on that that did not worry her at all, in fact it worried her a lot. She was also not to tell Coulson what this catch was exactly, only that there was a condition to her accepting the job at S.H.I.E.L.D and that was all he was to be told. It confused her and kept her mind preoccupied for the first couple of hours of her brief captivity till she finally summarised that Coulson did not know that S.H.I.E.L.D was modifying the DNA of some of their agents. It was an interesting realisation.

"Excellent" He said with a grin and pushed the file towards her "This is yours to read as soon as possible, welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D Skye, let's go get your stuff and move you in"

She gave a small smile and followed him out the cage, mentally cheering and flipping off the cage that she was leaving behind. Not that what she was walking into was much better, she was just leaving one prison for another, the second was just a lot more subtle about it, surrounding her with the other agents but she knew better, she couldn't actually leave this place without being escorted most likely and if she were to ever leave, maybe for a holiday or something, she would be constantly supervised, her every moved watched and if she put one toe out of line she would land right back at the plane, probably with no more holidays. That was a depressing thought.

She followed Coulson silently as he pointed out everything on the plane, he was very enthusiastic about the entire thing

"I requested half of this stuff myself, it was a presents of sort from the director of S.H.I.E.L.D, guess he felt like he owed me one after I was killed in action" He explained in a simple tone, as if it was an everyday occurrence to die.

"Wait, what? You were killed?" Skye asked incredulously, stopping to stare at him.

"Yeah, I was dead for 8 seconds" He replied with a grin. Skye stared at him, how exactly was that amusing?

"Now come on, I need to show you were you will be bunking whilst working with us." he continued walking, monitoring with his hand for her to follow, which she reluctantly obeyed.

He led her to a small open area with a set up of a regular living room with cubical to the left side and a kitchen to the right. He motioned to the cubicals;

"That is where most of you sleep, the pilot, that's Agent May, and myself have different living areas, Agent May's are closer to the cock pit in case of emergencies and mine is near my office. You will be sleeping here with Agent's Fitz, Simmons and Ward. The last one on the left is the only one that is free" He explained, waving his hands towards then end cubical. Coulson talked a lot with his hands, Skye noted dully.

She moved slowly towards the cubical, opening it with caution. It was cosy. A single bed pressed up against the far corner, a night stand next to it, a wardrobe at the bottom of the room with a small desk next to it with a chair tucked neatly under it, she placed the file that Coulson gave her on the desk. It was very compacted but it was nice.

She turned back to Coulson with a small smile, "It's very cosy" she commented, Coulson grinned and then moition to the figures caring a box and bags that were coming into view.

"Agent's Fitz, Simmons and Ward kindly brought your stuff up for you"

Skye groaned, letting her head fall forward slightly "Not that I'm not grateful or anything but like, my stuff is private and you just went looking through all of it."

"Simmons packed all your clothes to make it less of an invasion of privacy, although I fail to see how packing clothes can be seen as an invasion of privacy because..." The Scottish agent, Fitz, began.

"Fitz, do be quiet, lots of people see it as an invasion of privacy!" Agent Simmons reprimanded in a very lovely English accent.

Man, Skye was going to love it here, especially if those two just talked forever, they had such soothing voices mixed with a different accent than she was used too made things a lot more bearable. She felt like the two of them could tell her she was about to die a very painful death and she would be fine with it because of their damn voices.

"Erm, thanks guys, I'll just take them for here" She replied awkwardly, reaching for her bag that hanged loosely on Simmons shoulders. Simmons smiled politely at her and opened the door to her little bedroom as she took the box of off Fitz. War just walked wordlessly into her room, casually dumping her box onto the bed and leaving. Skye frowned, about to yell at the rude asshole who was not being careful with her stuff.

"Oh don't mind him, he's just not used to working as a team yet. He's kind of like a lone wolf" Simmons said, sharing an amused look with Fitz, both their eyes were lit up in a mischievous amusement, an inside joke that only the two of them seemed to get.

Coulson chuckled "I'll let FitzSimmons settle you in, I need to go have a little chat with certain people" and with that he walked away.

Skye stared after him before turning to the two agent's next to her "he's gonna yell at people right? The was the polite way of saying I'm going to yell at someone, right? And does everyone just refer you to as FitzSimmons? Like you are one person?" Skye fired out, staring intently at the two, who to their credit did not seem flustered by the question.

They just grinned as they responded; "Most people just refer us as FitzSimmons, we've been working together since we started the academy together, sometimes people call us the science twins, personally that's my favourite one and I don't think Coulson is capable of yelling at people from what I've seen, the only person likely to yell at someone in anger on this plane is Ward I believe" Simmons replied, the smile never wavering from her place, her eyes lit with excitement and curiosity.

"Yeah most likely Ward, May would just do the stare thing and you would cower to her and Coulson does the "I'm not angry just disappointed" tone of voice when reprimanding someone, that one is the worst." Fitz rambled, easily picking up where Simmons left of.

"Well we will let you get settled then Skye! I believe Agent May is coming to talk to you at some point regarding the condition of you joing S.H.I.E.L.D" Simmons cheerily replied, waving as she left, grabbing Fitz's arm and dragging him with her. He gave her a lazy smile and half hearted wave as he left.

"Wait...you know about the condition? Simmons!" Skye called after them, confused. How did Simmons and Fitz know what her condition was and Coulson didn't? Maybe they didn't know and all they knew was that there was a condition...but they seemed to know what it was, the glint in their eyes gave it away. Groaning as the confusion that this agency constantly left her in, she walked into her bedroom, moving her stuff onto the floor and flopped onto the bed, determined to get a nap in before she had to interact with anyone else.

Apparently luck was not on her side.

"Rookie. Get up, we need to talk" Came the stern voice of Agent Melinda May.


	2. What Have I Done?

Operation: Shadow

Chapter 2

"_Rookie. Get up, we need to talk"_

Skye groaned and turned her head to face the stern face of Melinda May, her chestnut hair fell over her eyes, distorting her view. Another groan.

"Stupid hair can't even fall in the right way" Skye grumbled, pushing her hair out of her face before sitting up to view the agent in her doorway, "oh please, do come in Agent May" Skye remarked sarcastically, guesting to her tiny bedroom "make yourself at home"

May walked into the room, her eyes never leaving Skye as she sat down on the chair besides the next, Skye raised an eyebrow in an attempt to appear confident. She know she wasn't fooling anyone, she could feel the trembles going through her body as she waited to hear what was going to happen to her.

May felt a pang of sympathy for the girl as the nervous energy just rolled of off her, going through this procedure was not fun, you felt bare, like all your thoughts and feelings were laid out before you for everyone to see. She contained the shiver that threatened to appear at the remembrance of her own time going through the transformation. The worst two weeks of her life. Reliving every horrible memory and then reliving it with someone else watching them with you.

May watched Skye squirm under her gaze, waiting for her to demand an explanation.

"Alright, alright I give, what exactly is going to happen to me? Are I going to sprout another head? Leg? Arm? What?" Skye blurted out, her hands moving wildly with each word, her eyes wide and scared as she waited for an explanation. "Should have chosen jail" she muttered under her breath, running her hand through her hair.

"No" May replied calmly "now if you would calm yourself, I'll tell you exactly what is expected of you and of the procedure"

Skye nodded, biting her lip softly and got her self comfortable on the bed before giving May her full attention.

"The procedure involves a series of jags, one which you will get after we have finished our talk, you are to get a jag every two days; each jag provides a part of the genetic modification, doing this way is easier on the body and has given us the highest success rate-" May began to explain.

"Sorry, success rate? Do people die from taking this?" Skye asked worriedly

May stared at Skye with irrigation, waiting for the rookie to acknowledge her own mistake before continuing. Skye lowered her head in apology before darting her eyes to May, May nodded, accepting the apology, musing in amusement that the girl would fit right in with the others.

"Now, as I was saying, this way provides us with the highest success rate, lowest death and highest full transformation" she said, stressing the last few words as an answer to Skye's questions "I'm not going to lie rookie, the procedure will make you feel like shit. You will feel naked, as though all your thoughts, feelings and memories have been on display for everyone and anyone to read and do as they please with them. You will feel sick as your immune system will be down after the first jag. The first jag breaks down several important systems in your body and rebuilds them up stronger and better, so this means take care of yourself for the first two days, eat properly and stay warm. Simmons will be monitoring you for these two days. Then the next 7- Skye chocked, glancing up in surprise, mouthing '7' in shock, May continued as if nothing happened – jags will be preparing your body for the transformation, adding and deleting parts of your mind to create the necessarily link and then in two weeks the transformation will be complete and you will meet the...head of this... team" May finished, the edges of her mouth twitching at amusement of the description she gave.

Skye stared at her in shock.

"Okay, okay, okay, first of all, SEVEN jags? I hate jags, I'll begrudgingly take one jag but seven?" Skye moaned "this is going to be the worst two weeks of my life" she pouted, before sitting up straighter, signifying that she had some serious questions. "So you've explained what's going to happen to me but you haven't told me what I'm going to become? Why would I need a link? And meddling with my brain? It sounds like you are forcing a thousand year evolutionary process within two weeks" Skye questioned, shifting to fold her legs in a basket, leaning her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands as she waited patiently for May to answer.

"You will become a wolf and yes, that is basically what we are doing. We need to create a link between you and the pack you will join as well as create the wolf instincts in your human form so that when you transform you wont give into your instincts as you will be used to them already. You will need to practice calming techniques starting from today, I suggest mediation or Tai Chi, Simmons can help you with the mediation or you can do Tai Chi with me. Any more questions?" May enquired in a bored tone, she was not really looking forward to another person joining their pack, especially since she would have to look after them as well as Fitz and Simmons, who were already a handful with their experiments and arguing over the simplest things. She knew this feeling would not last, their alpha did not enjoy pack members not getting on and their instincts as a wolf is to accept anyone that joins their pack and have some form of affection for them. Their alpha gave specific instructions to her once she was informed that there was going to be a new member of their pack

"_Watch out for them, be their S.O, be a mentor, this girl isn't like the other agents. We have nothing on her and whilst I have no qualms about her joining our pack, I trust Furry to make the right choice, it makes me uneasy that we know nothing about it and it will be like pulling teeth to get any information from her. All we got so far is that she is an orphan before she turned one and you know how difficult they can be. Oh, and please look after FitzSimmons and try and get them to stop doing those damn experiments" _

Very specific instructions.

May watched as Skye processed all of the information that she had given her, she watched as Skye pulled her bottom lip between her teeth in worry, the way one of her fingers began curling a stand of chestnut hair around it. Every action the girl was doing screamed how scared and worried she was. Maybe she should get FitzSimmons to talk to her, May is not very good with comforting those outside the pack.

"Hey" May started softly, placing a hand on Skye's knee "I'll send you FitzSimmons after dinner, they are the most recent ones to go through the transformation in the pack and closer to your age, they will be able to help you more, especially if you have questions about the technical side of the procedure. Now jag and then dinner"

Skye nodded, moving closer to May, pointing to her arm with a questioning look. May shook her head; "wrist" she said and reached into the bag that she brought with her, pulling out a sterilised needle, a liquid and a wipe. May carefully moved the wipe across Skye's wrist, pulling a band around her arm, making her veins more visible, quickly finding the right vein, May carefully slide the needle into Skye's wrist, ignoring the wince from the rookie and injected the serum.

"Done. You will begin to feel like effects after dinner" May said, standing up and gathering her things as she began to leave. Pausing at the door, she turned to Skye who was watching her leave "one more thing Skye, I will be acting cold towards you and FitzSimmons. It's part of an act, I suggest you play along or face some serious consequences. You have thirty minutes until dinner" and with that, May left Skye alone with her thoughts.

"What have I done" Skye groaned, falling back onto her bed, her arm draped across her eyes in defeat.

* * *

After dinner, Skye went straight to her bunk, her face pale and mumbled about not being well. She dropped onto her bed, ignoring the sounds of her door opening as she fought to keep her food in her stomach. She did not want to have to clean up her own vomit.

The bed dipped down in two different places as FitzSimmons sat down. A hand was placed comfortingly on her stomach, slowly moving in circles. Skye groaned out in appreciation.

"This is the hard part, physically anyways" She heard Simmons whisper "it will last for two days and you have to keep eating or the chances of the success of the serum will plummet."

Skye whimpered "How can I eat if all I can do is lie here and try not to throw up what I've eaten? And is it just me or is it cold in here?" Skye complained, shifting to dry and get under her covers.

Simmons and Fitz moved off the bed and silently began to help Skye get comfortable and warm. Simmons tucked Skye under her covers, placing a soft kiss on her forehead and looked at the soon to be pack member in worry. Even though she knew this was a natural part of the process, she still couldn't help but worry about the girl.

Simmons turned to Fitz with an apologetic expression "I think I'll just bunk in here for the next two days and look after her, I know you hate attempting to care for people who are ill and vomit. You hate vomit"

"That I do Jemma, that I do" he mumbled, fiddling with his hands as he threw nervous looks at Skye "I'll be in the lab working on the night night guns then" he announced, reaching for the door.

Simmons scoffed "we are not calling it the night night gun! I created half of it so therefore I have as much right to name it as you do!"

"Whatever Jemma, it's night night gun until you can think of something better" He called behind him teasingly as he left Skye's room.

"Bring my stuff!" Simmons called, closing Skye's door and sitting at the edge of the bed.

She placed her hand on Skye's side "You're going to be alright Skye, I'll be here all night watching you" she whispered.

"If you're gonna creep, then do it whilst under the covers and providing me with warmth." Skye grumbled, pulling back her covers to allow Simmons in. Simmons rolled her eyes with a smile and kicked of her shoes, crawling under the covers and pulling Skye close to her.

"Like this?" She teased, Skye nuzzled her head against the crook of Jemma's neck

"Exactly like this" She mumbled, a yawn escaping her mouth, fighting to keep her eyes open.

"Go to sleep Skye, I've got you" Simmons whispered. She could feel the connection forming already, the first jag did more than kill and rebuild systems within the body, it started the blueprint of the link so that when the second jag was administered, there would be nothing to resist the new instincts.

Fitz appeared soon, entering quietly, sensing the need for quietness and dropped off Jemma's stuff at the door with a quick glance at the girls on the bed before leaving.

* * *

Fitz knocked hesitantly on the door of the cockpit. May had been awfully cold towards them since the team was put together, whilst he knew why it was necessary, he missed the comfort that the older pack member provided. She made him feel less homesick and was great company whenever he and Simmons weren't glued to each other.

"Enter" He heard her call and he opened the door slowly and sunk into the cockpit, hesitantly throwing himself into the co-pilots chair.

"You're acting like a child." She reprimanded him lightly, turning on auto pilot and turned to face him. He just pouted in response.

"What's wrong Leo?" She asked, smiling a little at his name. It was a running joke in the pack that he had a name the represented lions when he turned out to be a wolf.

Fitz sighed dramatically, he knew he was being childish, he just missed being in a base where he could visit most of his pack (there was one or two pack members that he has not met yet) and experiment to his hearts content and not have to hide the fact that he was close to anyone in his pack.

Melinda watched one of her pups carefully, before deciding it was the new arrangement that was bothering him. Fitz never took to change that well. Which led her to be slightly surprised that he hasn't complained about Skye joining the pack yet.

"It's this new arrangement, isn't it?" she enquired, Fitz nodded.

"I know it's childish to be so...aggravated by this change, but I hate having to pretend that I'm something that I'm not, that I've never met you before and that I can't do half the things that I can. I can defend myself and I don't like the idea of going on a mission and having to act like I can't protect myself. I look weak." He ranted, sliding down further in his chair in his anger. " I don't understand how Simmons is dealing with this so easily. Even with Skye, she is just acting like Skye has been a part of the pack since the beginning, Skye's not even a full member of the pack yet" He complained.

"Simmons is throwing herself into her work in case you haven't noticed, demanding physicals for us all. She is able to accept Skye so easily at the moment because she looks at it as part of her job. To care for the sick." Melinda explained calmly, wishing that she could comfort the pup in the usual ways. She settled for placing a hand on his knee, watching as he visibly relaxed. "You don't appear weak Leo, you appear as a normal scientist, the same as Simmons, valuing knowledge over fitness" she teased lightly. Fitz looked repulsed at that thought

"If Natasha ever, ever heard me say something like that or thought that I thought like that she would have my doing laps via push ups" Fitz complained, shuddering at the thought of their alpha and her focus on being physically fit and being able to defend themselves.

"I will not have members of my pack being unable to defend themselves in a simple situation" Fitz said, mimicking Natasha's slightly higher pitched voice. Melinda chuckled, she couldn't wait to tell her mate about that impersonation, it was very good.

"Good impression Fitz" She smiled at the young wolf, she leaned forward slightly, signalling a slight change in topics "now, how do you feel about Skye joining our pack?" She asked curiously

Fitz tensed slightly "I have no problem with her joining, I trust Natasha's judgement, it's just that we know nothing about Skye, all we know is that she is an amazing hacker and an orphan. She could pose a threat to our pack. She doesn't know how we work and she might never understand how we work and upset the pack...other than that, I think she will be a good addition to the pack. Jemma already seems to love her and has taken to the role of being the older sibling." Fitz replied, scrunching up his nose a little.

Melinda smiled and stood up, motioning for Fitz to copy, she wrapped her arms around her pup and pulled him close, rubbing his back soothingly. She could feel Fitz purring, the sound filled her with amusement and happiness. This is how her pups should be, happy and relaxed, not tensed and worried about things they shouldn't be worried about.

"Don't worry little lion, things will get better soon." She mumbled, placing a soft kiss on top of his head, pulling away from him, ignoring the pang of guilt she felt when she saw him pout "now, go to sleep. I'm not having you mess up your sleep pattern again" she said sternly, looking at him in the eyes. He nodded and complied reluctantly.

"Night May" he mumbled, leaving the cockpit.

"Night little lion" She said softly, attempting to block out the raw emotions she felt after dealing with Fitz. She attempted to get back into character of "The Calverly", the cold, hardened by battle agent who did not comfort her agents and certainty did not give them little nicknames.

This might be tougher than she thought.

* * *

Coulson sat facing Ward in his office. The young man looked confused as to why he was here. With a sigh, Coulson started a conversation he never thought he would ever have to have:

"I want you to become Skye's S.O and report back to me on everything she does" He said, staring with a cold expression at the agent in front of him. This had to be done. He had to know. If May or Furry wont tell him, then he will find out the dirty way.

* * *

So that is the second chapter, I know May is appearing quite OOC, but this is an AU and it's only ever with pack members, her being that affectionate to someone outside the pack? Forget it. I hope you like it and please review.


	3. Nightmares and Fluff

Operation: Shadows

Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, the programme I am using corrupted the original file and I was trying to get it back but I've just give up and written a new one from scratch and attempting to remember what I wrote.

Skye woke up in a cold sweat, her hair sticking to her head, sweat dripping down her face, she clutched at the bed sheets desperately as she tried to remove the images from her mind. She tried to take deep breaths, only to find herself chocking on her own sobs. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on her knees, desperately trying to calm herself down. Panic continued to seize her body as the door quietly opened, a soft sigh was heard along with a quiet murmuring of "I'll go get May"

Skye flung her head back, opening her eyes wide as she once again tried to take deep breaths. This was ridiculous.

She could not even remember what she was dreaming about...not exactly anyways. All she knew was that in her dream, she was in trouble, a life or death situation and it seemed like it was leaning more towards the death outcome than the life outcome...and then there was the blurry faces. A blonde women, a couple of years older than her, desperately reaching out for her, screaming for her to wake up.

She wish she knew who it was and how they knew she was dreaming, or was it her unconsciousness? She wasn't too sure. The bed dipped down beside her and she felt a wet cloth being pressed to her forehead, along with a soft hand on her bare skin of her back. Her body hummed in joy, like this was exactly what she was looking for.

"Deep, even, breaths, Skye" the women next to her mumbled, May, and began to move the cloth over her face. "With me" She instructed and began to take deep, even and calming breaths. Skye tried to mimic it exactly, taking a few extra seconds before she got the right rhythm.

"There we go, that's it...better?" May asked, after a while, her hand rubbing soothing circles on her bed. Skye turned to her tiredly and nodded, resting her head against May's shoulder, her eyes closing. May looked at the young adult in front of her, her clothes soaked from sweat, her face pale with a red tinge, looking vastly ill. She sighed and pulled her closer, adjusted their positions so that Skye's head was tucked in at the crook of her neck. She looked at Fitzsimmons.

"Thank you for alerting me, go back to sleep, no doubt Coulson will want to start doing missions tomorrow" May instructed the two young wolves, they nodded, quickly looking at Skye before darting to their beds for a good nights sleep.

May sighed once more, before settling herself in the bed and held Skye close to her. Just as FitzSimmons woke her up, she had received frantic texts from Bobbi, some wondering who the new pack member was and others were to go wake her up as she was having a rather horrible nightmare. May doubted that Skye would remember her nightmare at all or even this night, she was completely out of it. Her young wolf whimpered in her sleep and May automatically reacted by running a hand through the girl's hair, reminding her of the endless night's spent with her mate, Natasha, holding one of their new wolves. It didn't happen with all their wolves, so far only Maria and Bobbi.

Maria started off by pushing both her and Natasha away, acting like the nightmares were nothing, until eventually one day she came into their running, tears streaming down her face, claiming she could not longer handle it. She would cry out and cling to Natasha desperately every night since that, only occasionally seeking comfort from Melinda. After a few weeks, the nightmare disappeared and Maria was able to get a goods night rest.

With Bobbi, they had been wary, fully prepared to fight tooth and nail to get her to let them help her, but much to their surprise Bobbi willingly came to them for help after the first series of nightmares refused to stop. She never cried out in her sleep, only clutching to Melinda tightly. Bobbi preferred to be close to May when the nightmares happened, almost completely ignoring Natasha, which is now hilarious since the two of them are so close. Both Natasha and May joked that for their next nightmare filled pup would be clinging to Natasha as it seemed like they were taking turns but Natasha wasn't here and the only one to comfort the young wolf was May.

It was so Natasha's turn next time. Not that she did not mind helping their pack mates out, it was just that Melinda never really saw herself as the comforting type for adults. Although every time she looked at FitzSimmons and they way they acted she was only reminded painfully how young they were, and add Skye to the mix who was a year younger than FitzSimmons, it was only more painfully obvious. It never seemed like they were adults, not compared to Natasha and herself. FitzSimmons and Skye were easily 20 years younger than the two of them, themselves only just hitting their 20's and every time she saw their teary eyes or quivering lips, her maternal instincts (which were ten times more instinctual thanks to the wolf serum) kicked in and she automatically went and comforted her little pups. That was also another drawback of the wolf serum in her mind. The constant, overly sweet nickname that she unconsciously refers to the younger wolves as, "pups", Natasha thought it was hilarious when Melinda first told her. Melinda found it hilarious when she made Nat sleep on the couch.

She held Skye tighter and repositioned herself into something more comfortable so that she could get some sleep tonight, tomorrow was going to be a long and complicated day, she could just feel it.

* * *

Skye woke up next to a warm body in a very comforting position, she curled closer to the body and sighed in content. She could practically feel the developing wolf inside her humming in content. Last night had been a nightmare, literally, not that she could remember it but she is very familiar with the feeling of tiredness that she currently has, which she never gets unless her sleep has been disrupted by a nightmare.

The only thing she could remember was a blonde women screaming at her to wake up. How confusing is that?

"Don't get too comfortable, you need to get up soon and get ready for your training session with Ward." Melinda said, looking amused at the young women who was clutching at her tightly with a small smile on her face.

"Do I have too?" Skye whined, very much sounding like a wolf, "I'm tiiiired" she dragged out, looking up at May with big puppy eyes, her brown eyes showing so much trust and hope that May would save her from whatever Ward had in mind for her this morning.

"Yes, I'm not having anyone in my pack be defenceless" May replied sternly

"Yeah okay I get that but why does it have to be Ward?" Skye whined again, tugging lightly on May's arm as she started to move off the bed. Skye did not want to let her go, she wanted the older women to stay in bed with her and hold her and watch disney movies with her until she felt better.

May sighed "because Coulson wants Ward to train you, he thinks it will help Ward become more used to working in a team and socialise him or something" she stood up, shaking off Skye's arm and turning round to look at the brunette.

"So basically I'm being used" Skye huffed, letting go of May's arm reluctantly, flinging herself back onto the bed. Recently, her emotions have been all over the place, sometimes she outgoing and confident, her usual self, other times she is shy and wants nothing more than to be round her pack mates and then other times she just wants to lock herself away form everyone and cry.

This whole wolf thing was a pain in the ass, according to Skye. Stupid senses were increasing and she was having intense mood swings which were causing FitzSimmons to avoid her and May to roll her eyes every time she passed Skye when she was in one of her huffs, and Coulson and Ward...they found the whole thing strange and it was making Coulson more determined to find out what was going on between the four members of his team as someone does not just change like that within a short period of time, and if he were honest with himself, May's whole attitude was making him more suspicious, he saw the small smiles behind mugs of tea when watching the three youngest of the team act. He saw the pride in her eyes...she was acting like a proud mother when no one was watching but as soon as someone was around, she instantly turned to the cold, stern Agent May that she was supposed to be.

"Basically, now come one, none of my pups are allowed to be slackers" May said, leaving the room and closing the door quietly.

"Pups?" Skye echoed, looking confused.

* * *

Skye stepped under the shower with a sigh, the warm water hitting her back soothingly as she rested her head against the cold ceramic wall. She used one hand to prop herself up against the wall as the other reached for a bottle of shampoo.

Training was so not what she imagined.

This was her fourth training session and she was told to run laps around their very, very small training area, then push ups and some other warm ups before getting to the actual training. All of that took an hour and a half and the last half hour was spent learning how to make, what she thought was wrong, a fist and a stance that was far more suited for someone with Ward's built. Not hers. It seemed like Ward was stalling their training. She wondered if she should tell May this...she did say to come to her with any concerns but Skye did not want to be a bother. She'll leave it for now.

Turning the shower off and wrapping a robe around herself, she made her way to her room quickly, not wanting to encounter anyone whilst in minimal clothing. Dressing herself quickly, she stared at her wet hair in the mirror and rolled her eyes. She so could not be bothered. It wasn't even 9am and she has never been this active before in her life (okay, that was a slight lie, just not before 9am).

Coulson finally had a mission for them today and she was not allowed to wallow in self pity, like she wanted to do, now more than ever she was wondering why she just didn't choose jail...there was no imminent threat to her, after all she was a mere simple hacker to the others and there was no need to extensive exercise or to put her life in danger or the need to take the wolf serum. Which reminded her, she wanted to know how the wolf serum came about, it doesn't seem like something you just stumble upon whilst trying to find a cure for cancer or something. She wondered in Simmons knew, she'll have to ask, but for now she has to finish getting ready and present herself for debriefing of the mission.

* * *

That was a disaster. The mission was terrifying and her heart was still racing despite her calm exterior, she smiled at her team mates and joke along with them as they sat in a small S.H.I.E.L.D base waiting for the damage of the plane to be repaired, possibly having to stay in the base overnight, possibly stretching to two days according to Coulson. 'Fantastic' Skye had thought, ' A little rest period after that hell of a mission'

There weren't many agents at this shield base, maybe 20 other agents or so, it was a passing through base, Ward had said, somewhere where agents can relax for a day or two before continuing on with a mission or back to travelling. It certainly made for an interesting place, she had expected offices and training places left right and centre along with tons of weapons and tech, but in reality, it was very cosy looking, there was a few offices, weapons and such, but mainly it was rooms with soft looking beds that Skye could sink right into, fridges filled with delicious food and fully stocked bars littered all over the base. It was basically the opposite of what she thought Shield to be.

"Some agents view and/or do some pretty horrific things on their missions so bases like these provide them with an escape-" Simmons stated,with pity in her eyes

"Yeah and drink away their sorrows and demons with the amount of alcohol in here" Fitz interrupted, gesturing to one of the mini bars.

"Fitz! You're implying that every shield agent is basically an alcoholic"

"Well, at least once in every agents career they will do it, like out of anger or something and just try to kill their liver" Fitz argued back

"Or kill themselves" Skye mumbled, flicking through images of cats on her phone, sometimes when Fitz and Simmons argue she just automatically tunes them out or appears uninterested so that when they turn to her for her to pick a side she can just raise an eyebrow at them and they will leave her alone.

"Skye!" The two of them whispered in a horrific tone, looking outraged that she would dare even say that.

"What?" She asked, looking confused at the two of them "It's true."

"Just because it's true Skye, does not mean we speak of it. Unwritten rule number one, never speak of the amount of alcohol that agents consume" May said, sitting down with Coulson trailing behind them, casting May a weird, yet happy look as he carried bottles of beer. May took a sip of her own as she looked at her small team.

"Thought you guys deserved these after that mission" Coulson said, looking apologetic at them all as they took the drink off of him.

"We deserve something a little bit stronger" Skye mumbled, opening her bottle up and taking a swing.

"Tequila?" Fitz offered

"No tequila" May and Coulson said simultaneously, causing them to chuckle whilst Fitz pouted, muttering about how he could drink ten bottles the now and still be fine.

"So Skye, how are you finding Shield? I know your introductions to it hasn't been...the best, but it could have been worse" Coulson asks, Skye looks at him incredulously.

"How could it be worse?" She asks, stunned, does he not know that she was offered either jail (read as hell) or join them and be turned into a wolf...okay so he doesn't know about the wolf thing but still she was basically forced to join them.

"You could have been brought in after shield told an agent to kill you" May said, sipping her drink, looking uninterested as she fiddled with her phone.

"Who was introduced to shield like that and still joined?" Skye asked

"Agent Natasha Romanoff, or more commonly known now as the Black Widow" Simmons supplied casually.

Skye almost spat out her drink "wait what? The Black Widow? You mean the one that helped save New York from invading aliens? She had a bounty on her head?"

Fitz and Simmons shared a look of mischief whilst May raised her eyebrows in slight surprise. Ward groaned

"Please don't tell me your a fangirl, please tell me we have not picked up a fangirl." Ward bemoaned

Skye blushed a little "I'm not a fangirl, it's just that the Black Widow is totally hot and awesome, like did you see they way she kicked those aliens asses and she doesn't have a fancy super suit like Iron Man or that indestructible shield that Captain America has. Oh and Hawkeye is totally cool like his ability to shoot arrows correctly at a target without even looking, like that the heck is that all about, ohmygod I am fangirling." Skye rambled, covering her face in embarrassment at the end.

Fitz and Simmons burst out laughing and Ward shook his face, clearly annoyed that his new trainee was a total fangirl.

"It's not that funny" Skye protest, pouting

"Trust me, one day, you'll realise why we are laughing so much" Fitz said, his face slightly red from laughing, a small grin settling on his face as Simmons gives her a small wink.

"I think Skye has a crush on Agent Romanoff, wouldn't they make a great couple, Agent May?" Simmons asked, grinning, clearly knowing something that only Fitz and May were privy to.

May raised an eyebrow at Simmons, a shimmer of anger and possessiveness in her eyes as she forced out "of course"

Simmons tried not to flinch at the look in May's eyes, she was going to regret the jibe later.

Skye groaned and tried to hide herself from the teasing by curling up into a ball, which resulted in her stomach protesting at the weird position she was putting herself in. She lurched back into a normal position, looking startled, but whatever she just done seems to have set something off within her. It felt like something was wanting to burst free from within herself. A strange voice echoed around her, telling her to let the feeling take over, but three panic filled voices were telling her to hold on, keep in control and whatever she does, do not give into the feeling. Bile rose in her throat as she forced the feeling back and pain filled her body.

"I think I'm going to be sick" Skye struggled to her feet and lurched towards where she thought the bathroom was. Simmons jumped up and began pulling Skye towards the closest bathroom, which thankfully was one of their bunks, hopefully Skye could last till they got her to her own bunk. She ignored the looks of concern from passing agents and ushered Skye into her temporary bunk and into the bathroom. 'Just in time' she thought, as she watched Skye throw up into the toilet. She rubbed her fellow agents back soothingly, pulling her hair gently behind her back, pulling it out of her face.

"Fitz get me a cold cloth" She instructed, not even turning to see if he was even there. She knew he was. She felt the air move slightly at Fitz departure and the presence of others take his spot.

Looking up she saw the rest of the time "She will be fine" she assured them "probably just ate something that didn't agree with her stomach"

Seeing their doubtful looks, she reassured them "honestly, she will be fine. Who is the doctor here?" she asked teasingly, and made shooing motions with her hands. As much as she would have liked May to stay here, she couldn't have her in case it raised suspicion with Coulson, well more suspicion than currently.

They, herself, Fitz and May, all agreed not to tell Skye the real reason that Ward was her S.O instead of May, who was clearly more qualified to teach a slightly rebellious young adult. Coulson was using Ward to spy on Skye and find out more information on the condition that Skye agreed to upon joining shield. Coulson had approached both herself and Fitz about keeping a look out for Skye, he was subtle about it and was gauging their reactions in his decision to ask whether or not they would blantly spy on Skye and report back to him. He only asked Simmons to look out for Skye and go to him with any concerns that she may have whereas Fitz agreed to spy on her. Both of them automatically reported back to May who thanked them but said she already knew. May always knew everything before they did, it always stumped them.

"Alright Simmons, we'll leave you to it, if she gets worse, let me know, okay?" Coulson says, concerned.

"Of course, sir" She replied, grabbing the cloth of off Fitz as he returned. She pressed it around Skye's neck, whispering soothing words in her ears as she continued to be sick.

"This is horrible" she groaned, resting her head on her arms.

"I know" Simmons mumbled sympathetically, glancing in annoyance at the others due to the fact that they haven't left yet.

"Right, well, we'll be off" Coulson finished awkwardly, leaving with Ward.

May gave Simmons a stern, yet concerned, look. Simmons nodded, clearly getting the message. Happy that Simmons understood, May left happy to put her faith in Simmons that she can take care of Skye and that if it got to much, Simmons would get help.

Simmons sighed and placed a soft kiss at the back of Skye's head. "It's okay, you're going to be fine. We've all been through this at one point. The damn serum makes us ill, it's either going to get worse tonight or another tonight, but after that one really bad night it will be easy sailing form there, I promise. Well minus the nightmares but we think that's a trick our link it doing to help build trust between the pack's alpha and mate and those pack members who have had a hard life and find it hard to trust people or work with them, or at least that is what it is starting to seem like. Maria and Bobbi totally clung to May and Natasha during their first year of joining the pack, well that's what we've been told, me and Fitz joined two years after they did which was about two years ago and you've joined the now which makes you the youngest of the pack, in both senses. Of course there are some other people in the pack but now is not the time to talk about that because ohmygod you're getting worse, I can feel your temperature from here" Simmons rambled, looking concerned. She placed her hand on Skye's forehead and flinched at the heat. She moved the cloth to Skye's face in an attempt to cool her down.

Skye whimpered and leaned back against Simmons. She no longer felt like she was going to vomit, but instead her muscles felt sore and it was freezing.

"Simmons" She whimpered, cuddling closer to the older girl "it's freezing"

"Skye, you have a temperature, we're just going to put you in your bed and let you rest for the night and hopefully you'll sleep through the worst of it" Simmons said in a soothing voice, pulling Skye to her feet and leading her back into her room.

"Pj's" Skye mumbled, reaching for her bag.

"Of course Skye" Simmons mumbled, and proceeded to help Skye get ready for bed.

* * *

Simmons lay in bed with Skye, who was now sound asleep, running a hand through the girls hair as she clung tightly to her. She was absently watching TV, too cautious to fall asleep. She didn't want to sleep and then have Skye be in more pain than she is, or worse, and she's sleeping through it, not that she is a light sleeper but she hasn't sleep in over 40 hours, due to one thing or another and if she were to fall asleep now, she wouldn't even wake up for an earthquake. Sighing, she cuddled closer to Skye, kissing the side of her forehead, a feeling of protectiveness over powering her senses when she was near Skye. She didn't understand what was going as this has never happened before, except for Fitz, but even then it wasn't as strong, but May had explained that Fitz and herself were a special case and so things might be slightly different concerning them. She was so content right now...she could just...take a small nap...it wouldn't...hurt...

"Simmons" Simmons jumped up, careful not to disturb Skye and turned to face May.

"Oh Agent May! You startled me!" Simmons smiled, looking happily at May

"How is she doing?" May asked, straight to the point.

"Better, I think she is going through the worst of it in her sleep, she was pretty out of it before she fell asleep." Simmons replied.

May nodded and slowly moved over to where the two wolves were lying. Carefully she sat on the edge of the bed and placed her hand on Simmons shoulder, squeezing it in support.

"How are you doing Jemma?" She asked in a more caring voice, falling into her new natural role. Pack mother.

Simmons smiled tiredly at May, wanting very much to just lean against May and fall asleep, it has been far too long since she has had a relaxing night with the pack, even longer since she has been together with all the pack. She was starting to yearn the closeness again.

"I'm alright May" She replied, trying to keep the smile on her face.

May leaned forward and pressed a kiss against Simmons forehead, pulling Simmons into a small hug, she automatically nuzzled against May's neck, breathing in and enjoy the feeling of being close to May. It wasn't quite Natasha, but it was just as good.

"Wish I was Nat?" May joked, knowing who Simmons would want right now. Simmons blushed and attempted to hide her face.

"It's fine pup" she whispered, resting her head against Simmons "You know Nat's on her way here the now? She's coming to see Skye."

"Really?" Simmons asked,not lifting her head from May's neck.

"Mhm."

"Stay here tonight?" She asked hopefully, pulling away from May.

"Of course, get some sleep Jemma, I'll wake you in the morning" May reassured her.

Simmons blushed "That's if you can wake me" she mumbled. May frowned.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"Um...over 40 hours ago?" she replied hesitantly.

"Jemma Simmons, what have we told you about staying up for more than 24 hours?" May reprimanded, a look of annyance on her face at the lack of caring on Jemma's face at her lack of sleep.

"We've been busy and then I was working on the gun and the mission and Skye being sick and someone needs to look after her who actually understands what's going on" Simmons rambled, trying to defend her actions.

May sighed. Simmons was a nightmare to wake up after forgoing sleep for so long but it was possibly. "Go to sleep Jemma, I'll wake you and Skye up in 8 hours, hopefully Coulson will not be up and snooping at this point."

Simmons nodded and cuddled into May's side. "Love you May" she mumbled, pulling Skye closer to her and nuzzling further into May.

May looked down fondly at the scientist and placed a kiss upon her head "love you too Jemma."

* * *

May was flicking through her phone, looking at potential missions for the team. She was choosing the hardest missions for her team, despite the fact that they only had two field agents, to stop Coulson from looking further into the issue of Skye. It was becoming an annoyance that he just wouldn't drop the topic.

_Nat: Hey, how is the new pup?_

_May smiled down happily, she couldn't wait to see Natasha in the morning._

_May: Fine now, she's cuddled up with Jemma right now, who's cuddle up to me. Can you believe that she hadn't sleep in over 40 hours plus and only just gone to sleep?_

_Nat: Silly girl, I'll have a talk with her when I arrive. Good to see the Skye's settling in okay. Anymore nightmares? Bobbi was pretty freaked out after the last nightmare._

_May: None at the moment, but she is cuddled up with us so that is most likely why._

_Nat: Alright see you babe, love you ;))))_

_May: You're a dork. Love you._

_Nat: ;)))))))))))))) 3_

_May: Nat. Really?_

_Nat: :*_

May sighed and put down her phone with a smile on her face, there was a reason she loved this women, well beside the soul mate thing.

"May" she looked down at the young wolf, Skye was looking at her with tired eyes. "You look so nice when you're happy" she mumbled, leaning back down against Simmons, clearly asleep again.

May chuckled lightly and leaned back against the headboard, closing her eyes for a small rest. Tomorrow was going to be a good day.


	4. Truth or Truth?

Operation Shadows: Chapter 4

Skye was awakened form her sleep by the feeling of someone leaving the bed. She groaned and automatically reached out for them, trying to get them to stay. She was very comfy and she did not want to get up and face whatever troubles they had to face today.

She heard a low chuckle, one filled with affection that made Skye smile and want to do a ton of weird stuff to show her affection. Stupid wolf instincts. It has been just under two weeks since her first injection and now she only had two left to go. Four days. She could do four more days of being emotionally unstable and wanting to do nothing but cuddle with her pack members (pack members was so weird to say but she was getting used to it) and generally being very moody and hungry. The hunger was an annoyance. She ate so many cookies a couple of nights ago that she had actually made herself sick and got herself landed with an hour lecture off of May and Simmons. An hour lecture each. Each.

"I need to go Skye before Coulson appears, Jemma is still here. She's just washing up at the moment,she will be back soon" May said, a small smile on her face at the sleepily dishevelled women in front of her.

Skye was pouting and May found it absolutely adorable. A part of her was once again marvelling at the wonders of the wolf bond, something that no one is shield has yet to fully figure out, as at the start of this, she thought Skye would be a liability, someone who was not to be trusted or left alone with the resources that she had, but she had proved herself over and over in the past two weeks and wormed her way into her heart. She also made FitzSimmons argue less which was a plus in anyone's book. May found herself caring for the women like she did with the rest of her pack mates, it seemed like the pack was incomplete before Skye came, and now she was being a sap. Skye's emotions had recently began to affect all of theirs as she was going through the transformation, once that was complete, she could be taught all the tricks and trade to being a wolf within shield. Until then, they all had to deal with the mood swings.

"Okay" Skye dragged out, stretching out on the bed, looking content to just lie there for the rest of the day.

"Up" May reminded her as she left.

* * *

Skye grumbled as she retreated to the kitchen after her morning workout with Ward and a soothing shower. She was tempted to grab some pain killers for the headache that was forming.

Having Ward as an S.O was exhausting, he was constantly giving her strange looks and asking weird questions. Sometimes he would write stuff down and pass it off as "S.O" stuff, if she were honest, she did not believe it at all. Then there was the training, are you not supposed to ease someone into exercise when they have never exercise, besides the mandatory exercise in school, in their entire life? Even though she had been training on and off for two weeks (there were some days she just could not move from either the training or from the injections) he forced her to run 5 miles every day possible (that was becoming a lot easier now) and then some insane work out involving the punching bag and sparing with him (more often than not she ended up on the ground in pain). On the upside, she learned out to fire a gun today. Downside, she wasn't allowed to fire more than two bullets.

Maybe May would teach her how to shoot, she would be better, right? She's been in SHIELD longer, more experience plus she has the bad ass name that we do not refer her to because she does not like it.

Skye sighed, maybe she should ask Simmons about it, she was very helpful about everything and plus whilst she was asking, she could convince Simmons to have a down day of just watching movies and lounging over each other.

'_Speaking of the pack, where the heck is everyone.' _Looking around, she set off around the large base in search of anyone (not Ward) in their team.

Letting out another sigh, she attempted to use her new wolf senses, apparently (according to the twins) she could use her senses whilst human to locate people in her pack. It should be interesting to try.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and centred herself, imagining the body and strength of a wolf, willing only the senses to become apart of her rather than simply turning into an actual wolf.

"_This is a level 5 mission, should you choose to accept..."  
_

"_Hey, maybe after work me and you, could hook up? You're always complaining about..."  
_

"_Where is Skye? I haven't seen her in a while"  
_

"_Man, the coffee here is shit, we should probably remove it"  
_

"_You know what's classified.."_

"_Johnson! How many times do I have to tell you"_

'Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap.' Skye thought, lowering herself into a crouch and held her head in her hands, she did not care what anyone passing thought because she was so focused on _getting all this noise to stop_.

Clenching her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut, she tried focusing on the voices again, she was sure she heard someone familiar in the mass voices currently flowing around her. Shifting through them, she tried to listen to keywords and the voices.

"_I think she is still sleeping?"_

"_Still? I told her to be up early today, I can't wait to see her reaction"  
_

"_I'm sure Skye will enjoy this surprise, but lets find her first. I'm getting the feeling of distress of off her currently"_

That was it. That was her team. Relief flooded her system, now to just lock onto those voices and follow them to the source.

Letting her sense take over, she fell back into a relaxed stance and walked in a slight daze towards her pack mates, relying heavily on nose and ears to take her there. She felt like she may have accidentally walked into a few people or walls, but that didn't matter, she was quite impressed with her ability to walk mainly using her nose and ears. It was fantastic and would come handy later on, she thought.

Finally reaching her destination, she felt a weird sensation, like there was something commanding her to look towards a certain person, glancing her eyes in the generally direction of this feeling, she saw a flash of red hair, but more important was the dark haired women near her. May.

A grin split across her face and she took large and swift steps toward May, wrapping her in a hug and taking in her scent before she even knew what she was doing.

"I got lost" she mumbled, pressing her face against May's neck, tightening her grip. The small feeling of panic that she did not even realise was there, faded away.

May silently hugged her back, giving Skye the time to calm down. She realised that Skye felt vulnerable and had gotten herself all worked up in a frenzy of panic, even if she didn't realise it herself. Skye was almost through the transition from fully human, to not quite human, which meant the emotional turmoil that she was constantly going through would eventually come to a stop. Eventually, but not right now, right now, her pup needed her comfort.

She could feel the others eyes on her and the amusement of her mate.

'you guys seem close' she teased, the constant mental connection (compared to the wold form only mental connection between the pack in their wolf form) between mates can be extremely handy sometimes, other times, they can be an inconvenience when your mate decides to be a smart ass. Ignoring her mate, she turned her attention to the girl in her arms.

"You okay now?" She mumbled softly to Skye, holding her at arms length, Skye just grinned at her.

"Of course I am, it's me, I'm always fantastic" she teased.

May rolled her eyes, and turned around pulling Skye with her to face the red headed women.

"Skye, meet Natasha Romanoff, aka the Black Widow" May introduced, enjoying the look of shock on her face.

'The Black Widow?' Skye mouthed, her eyes wide. May suppressed a grin.

"Aka my mate, the love of my life, the-" May whacked Fitz across the back of the head (finally announced his and Simmons presences) with a keeping a straight face, whilst Simmons was killing herself laughing in the background, her face slightly red as she laughed at the misfortune of her friend.

"It's not that funny Simmons" Fitz mumbled, rubbing his head before flinging himself into a chair with a pout

"Oh Fitz, don't pout, it doesn't look cute on you, only on me" Simmons tease, a small grin on her face and her eyes alight with mischief.

Fitz sat up straighter, a challenger clear in his body language "Oh yeah? I look super cute pouting, I'm clearly the cutest one here" He challenge

"Neither of you have anything on me, I'm the cutest of the cutest and I have the tragic background story to go with it so please for the love of God,do not get into an argument over who is cuter because you will both lose it to me" Skye declared dramatically, stepping towards the science twins, if she were honest with herself, she just didn't want to receive a headache from their silly little bickering.

"Oh you were right Mel, she does stop the twins from arguing about small things. Brilliant, I think we shall keep the new puppy." Natasha said, delight written over her face at the newest addition to their pack. Skye blushed at Natasha's words, but she was too busy to notice as Skye was someone who could finally contain the twins when their normal handlers were not around, which they barely ever were since they were all fully trained shield agents and everyone has a mixture of long term and short term missions that often prevented them all from meeting up.

"Hey! I'm not someone you can just dump" Skye said, acting jokingly offended when in reality the comment had hurt her. Too much of a reminder of her childhood, being passed around from house to house, the duration of her stay depending on her usefulness to her new 'owners'. _'Damn, I'm getting far too emotional over small things'_ she thought to herself, silently pleading for everyone to ignore the comment.

May and Natasha looked at each other with concern, while it was mainly the transitioning that was causing the mess of vulnerable emotions, there had to be part of it that was there before hand. They still knew little to nothing about Skye and the small flash of hurt they felt from the girl suggests that she has abandonment issues, most likely from growing up in the foster system. That was all Skye had told them about herself so far. She was an orphan, grew up in the system and was 22 years old and her birthday was in July even though she didn't actually know when she was born.

Natasha sent May a small nod, indicating that they will discuss this later but for the present time, continue on joking.

"Of course not!" Natasha said, looking offended, she moved towards Skye and pinched her cheeks "you're too cute to just dump anywhere. Look at these little cheeks" she cooed.

Skye moved back, swatting Natasha's hands away, looking slightly confused before sitting down in between Fitz and Simmons.

"Kinda weird, but also kinda cool, the black widow just called me cute" Skye said, with a grin and sent Simmons a wink, who laughed before remembering the threat May gave her earlier and quickly paled.

Simmons gave a small cough "Yes, well, I believe the Black Widow has her eyes on someone else and shall be discussed at a later time, now lets have a question time where we can answer any questions you have" she rambled out, trying to ignore the look May was giving her, as well as the amused look that Natasha was giving her.

Skye raised her eyebrow at the poorly executed diversion but shrugged it off. Another time.

"Any of my questions?" She questioned, leaning forward.

They all nodded.

Skye nodded as well, satisfied with their answer, she leaned back and thought of

questions she wanted answers too.

'_how long until all this emotional crap stops?' 'why doesn't Coulson know anything and why isn't he?' 'Will Ward ever be told? And why was he to join the team, why didn't you guys get someone from the pack to be the specialist?' 'How did this serum come about?' _

and many more raced through her head.

"Alright, let's go for what I hope is an easy one, how did this whole wolf serum happen anyways?" Skye inquired.

Natasha leaned forward "Well, really it was discovered by an accident. We aren't the first to be turned but we are some of the first to survive successfully. So we are still technically a trial run, which means check ups and I'm going to assume you are going to be as difficult as the rest of the pack. Now, the wolf serum, funnily enough, was created in an attempted to replicate the super solider serum and obviously they got it very wrong." she finished with a chuckle.

"Oh, well you are right, that went terrible wrong. Wait, does that mean we get super strength and get super muscles? Wait stupid question, clearly not form looking at Fitz" Skye replied, eyeing Fitz's lanky body

"Hey! There's no need to be rude." Fitz replied, indignantly

Natasha rolled her eyes at the two, whilst she does divert some of the arguments that Fitz and Simmons had, Skye seemed to just replace them with her own arguments with them

"Actually, once you are fully changed, all your senses are enhanced, which I am positive you have experience already"

Skye nodded "I was just wondering if it was like massive super strength or just slight super strength, but either way pretty awesome." Skye leaned back, displaying her comfort levels as she shot them another question; "So why doesn't Coulson know? He seems pretty chummy with the big eye patch guy. Why doesn't Ward know either since he is basically on a team filled with wolves?"

"Coulson doesn't know because he was preoccupied with another project at the time, we aren't sure which one, only that it was of the most importance and he wasn't to be sidetracked by this new operation. However, he stilled wanted someone he could trust within this operation show he chose his deputy director to run the project. Only, something happened with an old agent and they came back and gave her the first injection, which means there was no going back for her unless she wanted to die from the changes occurring within her. By this time though, Maria had already put myself and Mel through the change and we had already established a pack and who was the alpha and beta..although that become complicated a couple of months after the transformation, so Maria is currently the beta and then it is ranked through who was turned first.

Anyway, the reason Ward does not know is because we believe that he is already loyal to Shield due to his closeness to his old S.O John Garrett, Agent Garrett said he knew him when he was growing up and could confirm his loyalty to Shield. If Garrett had not stuck up for him, Ward would have been put on this project." Natasha explained

"Wow...that's certainly something" Skye mumbled "Well I guess that explains it... wait, so the only people who are put on the programme are those they feel wont be loyal to shield? How barbaric is that?" She spoke, outraged that she had once again been manipulated. Honestly, from her time spent here, she has enjoyed these people company, she can see why Shield does what it does, she may not fully agree but she can see it from their point of view and, dare she say it, she was becoming increasingly loyal to shield...or was this all because of the serum?

"It's not necessarily that they want them to become loyal to shield themselves, more like, loyal to someone in shield who will be loyal to shield. The reason that you were forced to join, against my wishes as I wish that everyone had a choice in this, is because you have to potential to become a very powerful ally to Shield, you are a brilliant hack, but if you had stayed in the Rising Tide, there was a chance that you could have been persuade by some of the more harmful organisations and caused more terror than you realised and became a powerful enemy to shield. Do you see where I am coming from?" Natasha asked, leaning forward to assess the new trainee's reaction.

Skye was silent, but she understood perfectly. She had to admit, it was a great strategy. It prevented people they recruit with suspicious background form turning traitor or reporting to another agency, well, at least not without the constant aching you get when you betray your pack. Recently, she had experienced these things, not that she was thinking about betraying them anytime soon, but the fact that she was keeping secrets from them that would probably useful to know was causing a constant low ache in her stomach, she woke up most mornings feeling nauseated and spent at least 10 minutes of each morning clinging to a toilet, preparing for the worst. If that was just keeping secrets from them (well ones that they should know about, or at least, that is what she thought was the reason) was causing this, then she would hate to experience what would happen if she actually betrayed them. She wondered if the reason that she was feeling like this was because the pack actually know that she was keeping secrets from them or if it was because there was some instinct, subconscious mechanism within the pack mentality (or whatever it was, Simmons did try explaining it but it was rather long winded and she ended up paying more attention to the fly in the lab) that knew that she was keeping things from the pack and thus was causing the pain.

"Skye?" Natasha pushed gently, looking worryingly at the young women in front of her.

"Huh?" Skye mumbled, coming out of her stupor to see everyone looking at her, were they wanting a response to something...? "Oh yeah, yeah, I understand" she said, flashing them a grin.

Natasha and May glanced at each other, seemingly communicating silently.

Skye looked between them, before deciding she was starting to feel uncomfortable in the situation she was in. She wondered if Ward or Coulson were going to appear any time soon and break up this little gathering. They all kept starting at her when they think she wasn't looking, sometimes even when she was. It was starting to unnerve her. It all started a few days ago and they have been relentless in the staring and asking if she was alright whenever the opportunity presented itself.

"So are we done here? Cause I have a few things to do..." She trailed off, resisting the urge to flinch under the intense gazes of May and Natasha.

"Such as" May enquired. Skye knew that she knew that Skye was lying.

Rising slowly from her chair, she forced a grin to her face and replied "Stuff" With that, she swiftly left the small gathering area to head to her temporary bunk. She hoped they would be back in the sky soon where they had to act like they weren't as close as they were. Although that didn't quite work with FitzSimmons, but they didn't mother hen her like May does. Meeting Natasha was cool, but not exactly what she imagined the Black Widow to be like. She supposes that is to be expected though. How people are perceived through rumours and videos, is not how they are actually.

Flinging herself down onto her bed, she pulled up her laptop and decided to watch some funny videos.

* * *

5 hours after the awkward encounter, Coulson had appeared (Natasha was skilfully hiding up in the corner of the room, who knew someone could crouch so skilfully on a small beam?) announcing that they had a mission involving the public millionaire Ian Quinn. It was a tricky mission, involving going under cover to his famous share-holders and interesting people party (honestly, what a stupid name) and Skye was the only one they could send in, mainly because she got herself an invitation to the party which caused less suspicion than doing it the "spy" way. Ward was furious, spewing that they couldn't trust her and that she wasn't ready for this.

Skye kind of agreed that she wasn't properly prepared but what choice did they have? She did, however, strongly disagree that she couldn't be trusted.

Skye had scowled at Ward and turned to her pack mates, expecting them to defend her, or rather Fitz and Simmons to defend. Which they did, after a moment's hesitation which left Skye scowling.

Well at least the is her chance to show them that she could be trusted, that she had the potential to be a great spy.

Which led her to her current situation, she was leaving her good and close, very close, 'friend', Miles. She broke things off with him, saying that she couldn't do the rising tide anymore, he had persistently asked her why she wasn't with them anymore. He had been slightly aggressive in his approach to her, but she easily got him to stop, but not before reluctantly sharing that she had joined shield, actually joined, not just to infiltrate for information on her parents. He hadn't reacted well to that, thankfully Skye was leaving anyway, rolling her eyes as she slammed the door shut.

Taking a deep breath, she rolled her shoulders and stepped into the taxi that would take her to Quinn's party.

She walked around the party, smiling, holding the champagne in a loose hold as she swirled and pretended to drink from it. She tried to keep her internal squealing down as she met some world famous hackers, it was pretty awe-inspiring, even more so when Quinn introduced her to some of them, calling her the best hacker rising tide had to offer. She flushed a little, trying to block of Fitz and Simmons voice that were criticising him and throwing quips of "oh he's trying to win you over" and Simmons outrage of "is he trying to flirt with her?" and Skye could practically feel May's disappointment from her, like it was her fault that Quinn was throwing compliments at her left right and centre.

"Remember the objective Skye, you need to get inside and find me an access point" Fitz said into her ear piece. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, like she would forgot the mission.

She pointlessly excused herself, claiming she needed to find the bathroom to freshen up. Walking around, she attempted to find some access points but it was proving harder than she thought.

'There is only one logical place to have the access point..' "The office" she mumbled aloud, looking down at the ground in concentration.

"Sorry? What was that? I didn't quiet catch that" came the voice of Ian Quinn, Skye almost jumped out of her skin in fright, internally cursing. She can hear Ward lecturing her in her ear piece, she even heard May humming her agreements. Squashing down her anger, she swiftly turned around and let out a smile giggle as she face Quinn.

"You're really laying it on thick Skye." Fitz criticised.

"Be a little more subtle, you're like one of those cosplayers outside stark tower, swooning at the mention of stark.." Ward grumbled.

Skye's smiled tightened as she attempted to tune out their grumblings in her ear

"Oh! Sorry, I was just looking for the bathroom, I asked a guard and he pointed me down this way... I guess it's just such a big place that even your security is confused" Skye said laughing, attempting to play off her snooping.

"I guess so" Quinn chuckled, looking slightly suspicious. Skye bit her lip in anxiety, hoping it passed off for seduction rather than anxious. "So, I've heard much about you from my rising tide contacts...they say you are one of a kind, an absolute natural in the hacking business. Don't suppose I could offer you a permanent job?" he asked, a sly look on his face.

Skye smiled politely as she moved towards the desk. She know how to get into the office and gain his trust.

Quinn looked at her questioningly as she moved. She grabbed a pen and quickly scribbled on the bit of paper

"Shield is listening" She cocked a grin at him "I'd love to discuss that offer somewhere a bit more...private..." she threw him a wink and he gave her a full blown grin. A small gleam in his eye told her all she needed to know. He was intrigued by the fact that she had a connection to shield.

"Hey Skye, we've gained access to the cam-" Skye pulled the ear piece out and dumped it in a glass of water, no doubt causing a high pitched noise within the ears of her members, she resisted to smirk. A small payback for all the snide comments in her ear.

She gestured for him to lead the way "Shall we?" she offered.

"Of course" he grinned, picking up a class of champagne and led her to the office.

On the bus there was a silent rage amongst the team.


	5. Self-Pity Road Tripsorta

Operation Shadows Chapter 5

After receiving a verbal lashing from Coulson about what happened, along with Ward's sneers, Skye decided she had had enough. She couldn't believe that her team did not trust her, that they were disappointed in her actions, especially May. That hurt the most, sensing the disappointment off of the mother-figure of the pack, it felt like her heart was going to explode.

The mission had been a success, but the consequences of it were not. The team was heading back to the base that they were currently using for the furlough week before they were interrupted with an "important" mission, Coulson had decided that they had the right to finish off their week off before starting work again, claiming that it could be months before they even had a day off.

Whilst that was great – for everyone else – she could feel the tension between herself and the rest of her team. She didn't want to get back to base ad face the wrath of Natasha, Skye had no idea how she would react to the information of what Skye done. She stilled failed to see how what she did was wrong, she completed the mission didn't she?

Skye let a groan out and curled up into a ball in her currently hiding place; a storage cupboard. She feels like she probably move but she wasn't sure exactly where she would go. There was no where on base where she could hide from the pack, the only option...the only option would be to leave...

Pain clenched her heart at the thought,_' what the actual fuck', _Skye pressed her hand flat against her chest, in hopes of easing her pain. _'Right, of course leaving the pack would equate to a betrayal, but holy shit no one mentioned the pain' _She rested her head against the wall. Surely there was some way to block the pain and just leave them. She couldn't bare the horrible feeling of disappointing yet another family... people who took her in and she just fucked it up once more.

She can't take this anymore, she needed to get away from here, if not to leave the pack, then to just have some breathing room.

The pain slowed to a halt, how does that even work? Skye just shook her head and stayed still as she heard May calling to them all to prepare for landing. She'll find a way to get out, she is pretty sure that her faithful van is at this base.

Leaving the base was much easier than Skye thought, no one questioned her as she got her van and no one on the team went looking for her as they landed. So she drove aimlessly away from the base, her only intention was to get away from the base. She had no idea what to do or where to go. Panic filled up her body. Why did she do this? What purpose would this give her? They would find her either way and she would have to face the music at some point. Resting her head against the steering wheel, she tried to process her thoughts and feelings. The stupid transitioning thing was mucking her up. Why wont it just stop. Anger surged through her as she gripped the steering wheel a little too tightly, causing it to break.

"Fucking SHIT!" She yelled in rage, slamming her hand into the dashboard, causing that to break. Skye just stared, her anger simmering. What. Fuck. Shit. Oops. She can't cope, she can't function, its horrible. She just can't function away from the pack and it was a horrifying realisation.

A small knock on the side of her van brought her out of her thoughts. The door slide open as she tensed up as a blonde women entered with a small smile.

"Hey kiddo" the women teased "seems like you've broke a few important things here. Good thing I've got a car and a towing bar, huh?"

Skye stared at her, something about her just screamed trusting. That was unusual as generally her instincts tell her to run, but this time they seemed to think that Skye could trust this women, trust her to lead her to safety and fix the mess of thoughts in her head.

Skye titled her head "Who, who are you?" she asked timidly, looking down at her hands. '_What the actual fuck? Must be some wolf thing_' she tensed as she realised what this meant. This women was someone from the pack.

"Well you seem to have figured out that I'm from the pack" she teased lightly, seeing that this did nothing to ease the tension within the young girl, her faced soften as she lowered her voice to appear non-threatening, taking in the girls defensive posture "I'm Sharon Carter, the badass member of the pack and the one and true mate to our beta, Maria Hill"

"Oh" Skye mumbled, that was pretty impressive...it also meant that Sharon could order her back and she couldn't do anything about it. Skye shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Hey" Sharon whispered softly "I'm not going to force you back, but I am afraid you are going to have to come in the car with me. We can keep driving around if you want till you feel comfortable enough to talk about whatever your problem is" Slowly, she moved her hand towards Skye's shoulder. Watching the girls reaction, she placed it down gently and gave it a reaffirming squeeze of confidence

Skye nodded slowly, realising that she technically didn't have a choice, she was going back to the base at some point within the next 24 hours, but, at least Sharon was being nice and letting her continue her road trip of self-despair.

"Great. So, i'll just phone some guys instead to take your van and me and you can get started on roaming the roads, although, I would like to get back for my wife coming home at 9pm, so, think you can sort everything out in your heard for say, oh, 7pm?" Sharon said, grinning.

Skye just stared at her. It was 2pm, that was like 5 hours of driving aimlessly and leaving 2 hours to drive back...it was nice, despite the fact that this was all just a rouse to get her to get back to the base...but it was nice that they were giving her the time she needed, even if she was being babysitted.

"Alright...sounds like a plan" Skye mumbled, getting out of her van (locking it securely, might as well give the guys picking it up some hassle), pointedly ignoring Sharon's grinning face and headed for the SUV "Will my van be okay here by itself" she questioned.

"Of course it will be, just gotta put this lil device on it and it will deter people from taking it" Sharon replied, placing said device on the van. Skye raised an eyebrow.

"How exactly will that device stop people from taking my van?" She questioned, looking unimpressed

"It's a trade secret i'm afraid" Sharon replied with a wink as she entered the SUV.

Skye stood stunned "Hey! I'm in on the trade!" she complained as she followed Sharon's example and got in the SUV, momentarily forgetting her worries and she joked around with the blonde women who came to her rescue.

The two women sat in silence as Sharon drove the car, alternating between motorways and back roads, anything to get a one of a kind scenery. She would occasionally glance at Skye with each new change in scenery and would watch the tension in her face leave little by little. All Natasha had said to her before she went to locate the girl was that she was in distress and would most likely be on the defensive. What she was distressed about, no one knew. Sharon knew that she should try and get the girl to talk, but she looked content to just sift through her thoughts and emotions by herself. Still, she ought to try, if anything, to just help the girl out. Generally vocalising your thoughts as you are trying to sort them tends to help more as you seem to be hearing it in a more logical way.

"So, do you want to talk about it" she prodded carefully, glancing out the corner of her eyes at the car, watching her tense up slightly. "You don't have to, I just thought having someone to explain your thoughts to might help you sort them out better"

Skye just stared out the windscreen at the open road ahead of them, the sun was starting to lower itself, slowly creating more colours to blend into the blue sky.

"I don't really want to talk about it. Not to you anyways, no offence...it just seems like something I have to discuss with Agent May" Skye replied quietly, fiddling with her phone. Sharon winced at the use of the word "agent", that was never a good sign and showed that this might be something serious, although no one but Skye seems worried about whatever it is that is causing her to worry.

"I mean – I know I've fucked up before...but being able to feel how much you've fucked up...and it was with some of the best people I've ever known – well, I, - I was stupid to think it would all last" Skye said, trailing off into a mumble at the end, looking down.

Sharon paused. As far as she was aware, Skye hasn't done anything wrong. Natasha had mentioned before she left about the twins making some unjust comments on Skye missions, something she did wonderfully on and Natasha was so proud of the rookie for thinking so swiftly and deviously.

"_Like a true Black Widow"_ Natasha had joked _"The American version of course"_ she added hastily seeing Mel raise an eyebrow at her.

So why did Skye think she had fucked up?

"What makes you think you've fucked up" Sharon asked carefully, slowly manoeuvring them to a close by industrial estate in case she needed to stop.

Skye threw her head back an laughed, causing Sharon to wince, that was damn near hysterical, "didn't Natasha tell you?" she asked sarcastically " I fucked up on my mission, I know I did. Fitz and Simmons kept making these comments and I felt May's disappointment, Sharon, I felt her damn disappointment and then to top it all off, Coulson chewed me out! I thought I didn't do anything wrong, I thought that is what they wanted me to do. Ever since I got on the damn bus and was told I was going to become a freaking werewolf, I've tried my hardest to be how they want me to be. I tried to ignore the twitch of my fingers whenever I was on my laptop, the ache to hack again, to get the thrill and satisfaction of knowing that I could hack that. I put everything aside for them and it still wasn't enough!" Skye replied, completely failing to keep herself from becoming hysterical. She pulled her legs up and curled up into a ball, her pointless safety movement, Sharon could still see her and easily hear the slightest change in her breathing.

During Skye's rant, Sharon had quietly pulled over and stopped the car. She looked over at Skye and everything made sense now, except why Melinda felt disappointment, she knew that Mel was disappointed at some point yesterday, so much so that it was showing through the packs bond, but there is no way it was directed at Skye. Everyone in the pack would have known in a heart beat if that strength of emotion was directed at someone in the pack...but of course, Skye was still learning the workings of what it truly meant to be in pack and the consequences of it.

Sighing internally, she quickly fired off two texts to Maria and Natasha.

Sharon: _'Skye thinks May was disappointed in her yesterday and is currently having a full breakdown in my car, this situation is so fucked up it might even be rivalling that time with Bobbi'_

Natasha: _'Fantastic. Bring her back now and we will sort this all out. I'll need to find Mel to come have a chat with Skye'_

Sharon: _'Sure thing boss, Maria and I are free tonight if things go south between the three of you, we can look after Skye'_

Sharon: '_Things are complicated. Might be having some company tonight, also might be late back, stay up for me? ;) xxxxx' _

Trying to keep the grin off her face as she was painfully aware of the sobbing mess that is Skye right next to her, she put her phone away before she could read Maria's reply.

Turning to Skye, she automatically pulled the girl into her arms and regretted the action immediately as the girl screamed and punched her across her jaw in her attempt to escaped Sharon's grasp. Grunting, Sharon put one hand up in the air and the other to rub her jaw, _'well that bloody hurt'._

Skye stared at her in horror, her eyes wide as tears streamed down them, her entire body shaking as she tried to stutter out an apology. Sharon just waved her off and shook her head.

"No need to apologise Skye, that was my fault, I didn't ask if you would mind being hugged, I'm so use to being able to touch basically anyone in the pack so freely, of course that is no excuse but just a bad reason for my actions. I'm sorry Skye, I should have asked" Sharon apologised, looking over at the terrified, and now confused, Skye.

"Wh-why are you apologising? There is no need, I shouldn't-, I shouldn't have -" Skye stuttered out but Sharon raised her hand, effectively silencing Skye.

"It was my fault, okay? Now thats the end of that conversation for the now, we will talk more about physical contact once we get to the base...would you mind heading back? Natasha apparently wants to hold you in a hug forever and feed you ice cream until you feel better." Sharon joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Why" Skye stated simply.

"Because you aren't in trouble Skye. This is a whole big misunderstanding and Mel would like to explain to you as soon as you get back to the base, so, what do you say, you okay to head back now? I think we are only 20 minutes out" She asked softly, watching Skye for any signs of discomfort at her proposition.

Skye stared at her "I'm not in trouble?" Sharon shook her head "They just want to talk? No punishment?"

"No punishment" Sharon promised.

Skye looked at her, contemplating her options for a while before nodding her consent to the plan.

"Alright, back to the base it is" Sharon cheerfully said, focusing back on the car and started their journey back.

'_Hopefully things would be okay by tonight and everyone will be happy and satisfied and one big happy wolf family'_ Sharon thought as she went back to driving in silence.

Natasha held Skye in her arms, the young girl had been clinging to her with all her might. She glanced over at her mate, Melinda May, with a sad smile. All this happened with FitzSimmons not realising what they were saying and a misunderstanding of a feeling sent through the bond. Leaning over Skye, Natasha gently pressed her lips against May's, leaning her forehead against hers. It was a bit awkward with Skye lying between them, but she made it work. Just.

"Relax Mel, it wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyones fault. It was just a misunderstanding, one that has been sorted out which has resulted in Skye sleeping between us like a child." Natasha mumbled, a soft attempt to cheer her mate up.

"She is a child" May retorted "One I shouldn't have let think I was disappointed in her" May pulled away from Natasha to pull Skye closer to her, resting her chin on top of Skye's head.

"Mel, stop. It wasn't your fault, stuff like this happens, remember what happened with Bobbi? That was a right mess and everything is fine now, yeah? Our little Mockingwolf...sorry, Mockingbird." Natasha teased lightly, moving her hand over Skye to rest gently on Mel's hip. Mel raised an eyebrow as Natasha began trailing her fingers in random patterns on her hips.

"I thought we agreed to never speak of that incident again, and Nat, Skye is in the bed with us" she reminded her mate firmly, placing her hand over Natasha's.

Natasha raised an eyebrow in return, mimicking her mate "I was simply moving my hand over your hip in a non-sensual way, you're the one taking it the wrong way. I would never try to start something with one of the pups in the bed" she replied, overly innocent in her tone.

Mel rolled her eyes, she wasn't even going to list the countless of times that Natasha did try to start something with someone else in the bed.

"Go to sleep 'Tasha" She mumbled softly, leaning over and kissing her mate before settling in on the bed. Natasha rolled her eyes affectionately as she mulled over todays events.

Somewhere else in the base, Sharon walked sluggishly towards her quarters, not caring who saw her in this state, right now the only thing on her mind was getting back to Maria and curling up in her arms.

Opening the door lazily, she kicked off her shoes and noticed that her mate was curled up on the couch, immersed in the show on TV. Without any thought, she simply flopped over the back of the couch and on to her wife. Sharon shifted their bodies around, as Maria watched on in amusement, so that Sharon lay between her mates legs with her head resting easily on Maria's shoulder. Cuddling up close to her mate, she wrapped her arms securely around Maria and took in her scent, instantly relaxing her as Maria weaved her fingers into Sharon's hair and slowly ran it through it.

"Tough day?" Maria asked softly, looking down fondly at her mate.

Sharon made a small noise of agreement, clearly Maria wasn't going to get a proper response of off her at the moment, but she pressed on anyways.

"The newbie?"

"mhm"

"What was wrong with her? All Natasha said was that she basically ran away"

"Skye has abandonment issues I'm pretty sure and basically, she thought she fucked up her mission so badly yesterday that we were either going to hurt her as punishment or leave her. I blame the darn foster system, they always mess up and fail to look after the sweet and innocent" Sharon replied bitterly as she thought of the few others in the pack who had issues from being in foster care. She buried her head in the side the of Maria's neck, placing a soft kiss of affection there.

Maria smiled "The foster system may have let down several people in our pack, but we help them get over whatever issue they are having. We always help them and we are going to help Skye. She will be fine, soon she will be another annoying brat in the pack" She teased lightly, trying to ease Sharon's worries.

Sighing, Sharon lifted her head and looked at her mate. " I suppose you are right, once Fitz and Simmons learn what is and isn't appropriate to say, things should work out"

Maria scoffed "Of course I'm right, I'm always right" she replied with a grin.

Rolling her eyes, Sharon leaned forward and kissed her mate slowly, wrapping her arms around her neck and pressing herself as close as she can to Maria. Breaking the kiss, she moved her mouth to Maria's ear and whispered

"No you aren't"

"Sharon!" Maria snapped joking, laughing as she pushed her mate away and looked into her eyes, a grin splitting across both their faces.

"I love you asshole" The two of them said at the same time.


	6. Base O' Base

Operation Shadows Chapter 6

The rest of their week off passed in bliss. Skye was finally no longer an emotional wreck (or clingy, thank you very much) May, Natasha, Maria and Sharon managed to install as much training as they could into the girl, fixing her stances to something much more suited for her size and weight and taught her how to use all types of weapons.

"_I'm not going to have a member of my pack be utterly useless out in the field" _Natasha had told as she flung Skye to the mat for probably the 100th time that day

"_Fitz and Simmons have no field training!" _Skye had automatically responded, pouting, why did she need it? She was just the hacker.

Natasha had raised an eyebrow and simply called Fitz and Simmons down and they proceed to throughly kick her ass all over the mats. Which led her to her current position: sprawled out on the couch, ice packs placed all over body and her arm tossed over her eyes and letting out low groans whenever she shifted.

Simmons and Fitz where snickering at her from where they sat on the couch next to the one she occupied, the two of them sharing a bowl of popcorn for the movie that they were watching.

"Shut it you two, one day I'll get my revenge" she threatened, trying to sit up and throw them a glare. It only ended in pain for her. "Argh, did you lot have to be so focused on the ribs? Fuck, if these aren't broken I'd hate to break my ribs" she complained to them.

Fitz and Simmons rolled their eyes at her "I've checked your ribs several times Skye, they aren't broken. You just need rest and medication. Probably a lot of medication from the beating you took today. I have to say, I've never seen someone in the pack handle a beating like that before and not get a few hits in, I think you've set a record" Simmons teased her, dodging the pillow that Skye flung at her.

The science twins fell against each other as they laughed at Skye's predicament.

"I hate you all" Skye groaned, lying back down and covering her eyes as she prepared to sleep off the pain on the very comfy couch.

May walked into the room where the three youngest team members were relaxing in preparation for their next mission.

Skye rolled her head back lazily and grinned at May, letting her tongue hang out her mouth in a true wolf fashion, her teeth glinting in the light, giving them a more predator look than usual.

"Hey May" She called, poking Jemma on the side to make her turn around. Jemma smiled at May, and stood up, dragging Skye with her.

"Hello agent May, do we have a mission?" she asked politely, motioning for Fitz (who was about to make popcorn) to come through.

"We do, we are going to Pennsylvania, Wrigley, to be exact" she informed them, walking into the small kitchen and grabbing the drink before they left.

"What could possibly be in Wrigley? It sounds boring. Like, who decides on a town name Wrigley?" Skye complained, flopping back down on the couch, looking just about as bored as she sounds.

"A floating dead person. That is what is in Wrigley. " May replied bluntly, Skye shot up, looking slightly apologetic.

"Right" she mumbled, looking down "best we get going, huh?"

May nodded, not before shooting Fitz a look "Fitz, we are leaving in 20 minutes, don't you dare make that popcorn" she scolded him. Skye and Simmons shot each other sly looks of amusement at Fitz's expense. Fitz grumbled as he put the bag of popcorn back and went to grab his stuff that he brought with him for his week off.

"Grab your stuff, wheels up in 10" May announced before leaving the room to allow them to grab their stuff in peace.

The three of them grabbed their stuff in silence, deep in thought about the up coming mission. It certainty was not an everyday occurrence and no doubt the scene would be horrific. Skye glanced at Fitz and Simmons, the two of them would turn to each other, opening their mouths before frowning and shaking their heads and then continued to grab their stuff. If Skye did not know better, she would have said that the two of them were communicating telepathically, some weird pack perk, but if they were, wouldn't she be able to hear? Shrugging her shoulders, she leaned against the wall, her bag lying carelessly at her feet as she waited for the two scientist to hurry up and pack. Honestly, they had only had a week off, yet FitzSimmons seemed to have pack months worth of equipment and about two days worth of clothes. They needed to sort out their priorities.

"Are you guys packed yet?" Skye complained "May said wheels up in 10, we have like, 5 now"

Jemma bustled into the room and gave Skye a weird look and held up Skye's phone.

"One, you almost left without your phone, normally you are surgically attached to it, and secondly, May sent us a message saying we've been delayed for another 20 minutes" She lectured, waving Skye's phone in her face, showing the message May had sent them.

Grabbing her phone, Skye grabbed her phone and rolled her eyes at Simmons "Alright, alright, I get it." she exasperated "Well if we have another 20 minutes, I'm off to say goodbye to some people, see you at the bus" Skye said before lazily turning on her heel, picking up her bag and waltzed out the door as she heard Fitz grumble about the fact that he could have made his popcorn.

Sharon was the first person Skye came across. She quickly grabbed the arm of the agent and dragged her into a room which allowed her to talk privately with the women.

Sharon had chuckled and pulled Skye close, kissing her cheek softly. Skye chuckled and buried her nose in Sharon's neck.

"Hey kiddo, you know, some of us actually have regularly jobs here at S.H.I.E.L.D, not ones that allow us to spent all our time choosing our missions whilst working on a swanky plane that you call a bus" Sharon teased, gripping Skye's hips. Skye rolled her eyes as she was teasingly grinding her hips against Sharon's.

"Skye, honestly, there is a time and place" Sharon murmured, lowering her head and gently pressing her lips against Skye's. It was a soft and sweet kiss and Skye titled her head a little and pressed her lips harder against the older women's. Sharon gripped Skye's hips tighter and pulled her closer. A soft moan emitted from Skye as she was pressed up against the wall. Skye slid her her hand under Sharon's shirt, drawing lazy patterns on her stomach.

"You know, this is not appropriate usage of your working hours, Agent's Carter and Skye" came the disapproving voice of Sharon's mate; Maria Hill.

Pulling apart, Sharon sent her mate a sleazy grin. "Hey babe" Maria stared disapprovingly at her.

"Excuse you, Agent Carter, that would be a 'Hello, Deputy Director Babe Hill'" Maria admonished her mate, smiling back at her love, moving forward to wrap her arms around both Sharon and Skye. "And how are you, my tiny little pack mate" She teased, pressing a kissing to Skye's forehead.

"I was pretty great, got an interesting mission I'm about to go on, was making out with the hot chick for a bit and then you had to ruin it by cock blocking me." Skye complained with a smile, appreciating the affection given by the two women.

"A mission? Skye, you should be going" This time, the frown on Maria's face was serious "Skye, as much as we would like for you to stay, you should probably get to the bus" Maria pulled back from the embrace she had them in and pulled Skye in for a quick hug and kiss. A small pat on the butt and Maria shoved her out the door.

"Go on Skye, don't worry, I'll take good care of Sharon here" she supplied with a wink and closed the door, leaving Skye pouting, holding her bag and 5 minutes to get to the other side of the building and onto the bus.

"You're late." Coulson said, watching in disappointment as Skye bustled onto the bus, looking out of breath.

"I ran, from the other side if the building to here, A.C, I'm just glad I made it before I was seriously late, late as in, you guys flew away already and I would have been left to the mercy of shield." Skye said dramatically, walking up the stairs to dump her stuff on her bunk.

"Briefing is in 5 minutes Skye, do not be late" He reprimanded as he walked past her.

"Got it A.C" She mumbled, walking to her bunk.

* * *

Skye couldn't breath. She felt ill, she felt like she was going to be sick. She was ready to kneel over and die. This was terrible. This was horrible. Holy shit.

"Simmons" she whimpered, she stared at where Fitz and Simmons were sitting back to back, with a glass door separating them. They looked so lost. Simmons looked so ill. They whole mission went sunny side up when they realised that whatever was killing these people was actually an alien infection that was transmitted through static electricity and of course, they forgot that Simmons got a shock from the first body and now they were paying the price for the negligence.

Simmons was currently wearing gloves as she worked furiously to try and find the cure. Skye could see the shaky, unsure movements as tears slid down her face. Fitz looked equally bad, he was sitting, using his limited resources on the outside of the lab to try and help Simmons come up with a machine that could dispense the cure , so far they have came up with something that looks like a taser.

With each minute that passed, with each passing dead mice, Skye felt her hope of Simmons abandoning her. Then something horrible happened, Fitz ran into the lab with her when they were looking, stating that it gave them all the more reason to find a cure. Coulson had given them all a look, and motioned towards the stairs. They left silently, hoping that they science twins could figure out a cure.

May and Ward had already left, but Skye couldn't bring herself to leave, she was standing at the bottom of the stairs, gripping the hand rail tightly as she watched her close friends fight for their lives. Coulson appeared behind her and placed his hand on the small of her back. Turning around, he gave her a small sympathetic smile and gently pushed her up the stairs, walking right behind her, his hand never leaving his back.

Despite the fact that over the past few weeks Coulson has been moody with her, she took great comfort in this act and without hesitation, once they reached their destination, she flung her arms around his neck and clung to him. She could tell by the way that he stiffened that he was not expecting this action from her, but nevertheless, he wrapped his arms tightly around her and muttered soothing words in her ear as her tears fell.

"They will be alright Skye, it's Fitz and Simmons, if anyone can find a cure to an alien artifact it's-" Coulson was cut off by a high pitch alarm, ringing through the plane. His eyes widened as he looked towards May, looking for conformation for his thoughts. May nodded once and sprinted towards the lab.

Ward looked confused as he glanced at Coulson.

"The doors are open, somethings wrong" he replied quickly as he followed May.

They rushed down to the lab and watched in horror as Simmons turned to face them as she allowed herself to be pulled out the plane by the passing winds.

"Simmons!" Skye screamed, she raced towards the parachutes, only be held back by May as she flung a parachute towards Ward.

Skye could not remember the last time she felt this much terror for someone. She felt like puking. She felt like she couldn't get air into her lungs as she tried to take deep breaths, her arms wrapping themselves around her body as May left her, muttering about needed to get the plane into position to pick up Simmons and Ward.

Today was definitely the worst day she has had since joining S.H.I.E.L.D

* * *

Following the incident, they were told to report back to the HUB, apparently Simmons S.O got wind of what happened and demanded that they bring her back to them for a chat. When they were told this Simmons look terrified and seemed to want to cling to Skye the entire way back (Skye didn't mind, she was planning on holding onto her for a very long time once she was back on the bus) and Fitz seemed to be ignoring her, he didn't seem to happy about it and Skye often caught him glancing sadly at Simmons before quickly diverting his eyes when he caught Skye looking at him.

May was acting funny was well, she kept looking at Skye as though there was something she should be doing. Skye originally just ignored the looks, until she was far too irritated and simply raised an eyebrow when she caught May looking at her. Skye knew that May would see that Skye was questioning her and May simply stood up, maintaining eye contact with her, and left. Sighing, Skye placed a soft kiss on Simmons forehead and made some excuse about needing the bathroom before following May.

Skye followed May's scent all the way to the cockpit, giving a light knock on the door, Skye entered the room and dropped into the co-pilot seat and swivelled in the seat to look at May.

"So what am I doing that's causing you to stare so much?" She asked, curious as to why May seemed so disapproving of her comforting Simmons.

"It's something you aren't familiar with just yet, you will be soon enough. I was trying to get you to follow me as soon as Simmons was back on board, but you were too preoccupied." May started, flicking on auto pilot and turned to face her, placing a hand gently on Skye's knee "Skye, I need you to ignore Simmons until further notice." When Skye opened her mouth, outraged at the suggestion, May simply held up on hand and stared into Skye's eyes with the intensity of the wolf, causing Skye to close her mouth, "Simmons is in a lot of trouble right now for the stunt she pulled, her s.o is very worried and angry at what she had done and would like us to not talk to Simmons, and by us, I mean you, Fitz and myself." May finished, gripping Skye's knee tightly, willing her to make the connection.

"Simmons's S.O is a wolf?" Skye questioned. May simply nodded and leaned back "but, don't you have higher authority over Simmons's S.O? You're the mate the alpha, you're basically an honorary alpha." Skye complained, not quite understanding the situation.

"Skye, this situation is delicate and complex and it would be better explained once we are at the HUB were I can most likely snatch Natasha, she's somehow always at the base where we land at... need to figure that out" May trailed off, looking out of the window in the cockpit. "Skye, stay in here with me until we land. You could learn a thing or two about flying and see if you would like to learn to fly or not"

"Shouldn't Ward be teaching how to fly?" Skye questioned, sitting properly in her seat.

"Ward, hopefully, won't be doing any more of your training soon enough. I'm just getting Maria to over ride Coulson's choice." May replied, glancing over at Skye's shocked face " Don't think I haven't noticed how he is training you. I got Fitz to take the feed of him training you and sent it to Maria with the request to switch S.O's under the fact that he is basically abusing you. He will most likely be taken to see Maria when we land and given a few weeks suspension in which we will get a replacement specialist" May explained, turning once again to look at Skye who was avoiding looking at her.

With a sigh, May easily grabbed sigh and pulled her onto her lap and wrapped her arms around her. "You're not alone anymore Skye. You have people looking out for you, everyone on this team is looking out for you, including Coulson, even though at times he seems like he's getting on your case, he's frustrated about what is going on. It's not an excuse for his behaviour, but it is understandable, imagine how frustrated and annoyed you would be if you were supposed to be leading a team and 4 out of the 6 of you seem to all be in on this massive secret that you know nothing about?" May explained, pulling her fingers through Skye's hair in a soothing action.

Skye sighed and nodded. She understood. She often felt frustrated when the team pulled the higher rank on her to withhold information. Skye simply curled up on May's lap and rested her head against May shoulder, enjoying the feeling of safety that came with being in May's arms. They two of them sat together in silence until their final descent.

Walking through the HUB was much more intimidating than walking through the first base she went to, so naturally she stuck close to May. What made Skye really laugh and relax was the way May and Coulson delegated duties as soon as they arrived, it was like they were looking after children, which she supposed, they kind of were.

"Hill want is wanting to see Ward, so I'll take Ward to her if you take Simmons to wherever she needs to go." Coulson said.

"What about Skye and Fitz?" May questioned, turning to face the two remaining members who looked innocently at their two senior officers.

"I could show Skye the tech rooms?" Fitz offered. May and Coulson looked at each other, silently communicating.

"That is the worst idea ever. I am never leaving the two of you alone after last time. Skye you're with May, who knows, maybe you'll be terrified enough into following orders. Fitz, you can choose." Coulson instructed, giving the youngest a stern look. If Skye didn't think that Coulson was acting like a dad to them, she did now.

"Um, I'll stick with Simmons, Sir" he replied nervously.

"Good, we shall meet back here in two hours, that should be enough time for all the yelling that is no doubt coming, as well as any unexpected reunion or such." Coulson said, looking at his watch "We better get going Agent Ward, we do not want to make Commander Hill angry by being late" and with that, he left with Ward to go find the Commander.

May turned to face the three youngest, all trying to look innocent as possible. Sometimes May forgot that these people were adults who were experts in their chosen fields and not teenagers intent on giving their caregiver a constant headache.

" Lets go"

As soon as Skye walked into the room, she immediately moved backwards in an attempt to get out of the room, the only word going through her head was a massive 'nope.' Unfortunately for her, she walked right into May who simply put her hand on her back, gently pushing her into the room and helped eased the weird feeling she had.

Standing at the back of the room, glaring at Simmons was a formidable women, tall, imposing with black and red hair. The look of utter disappointment seemed to have Simmons quiver in fear and bowed her head in a submissive gesture.

Submissive. Skye froze. That what was bothering her. The women at the back of the room was an alpha, but Natasha was the alpha of the pack, was she not? Skye turned to May, expecting answers but she was looking at the corner of the room, she was staring intently at him, as though she was telling him what to do. The man seemed to be sulking, playing with an arrow and throwing glares between May and the other women, before his eyes fell on Simmons and they softened, he almost seemed giddy when looking at her, a look of yearning in his eyes.

May cleared her throat, catching the intention of everyone in the room "Skye, meet Agent Victoria Hand, S.O to Simmons" May seemed to pause as she glanced at Skye " as well alpha of her pack" she finished.

"Wait what. You guys never mentioned that there was another pack? Or that Simmons was in that one?" Skye questioned, looking very confused.

"It's complicated" May responded, electing a snort from the man in corner. "Clint." she reprimanded, glaring at him.

"It's complicated" Skye parroted, staring at May in disbelief. "Not one of you, not a single one of you thought to explain this to me? It's not that hard to go 'hey Skye, there is this other pack that Simmons is in, also pass the popcorn ', see? Easy." she said, almost ranting in annoyance as she stared at May.

"Enough Skye." May said sternly "Now is not the time."

"She is right Skye. Now is not the time, the time is however, to reprimand Agent Simmons." Hand said, turning to look at Simmons, who automatically bowed her head in submission. Hand moved around the desk to lean in front of it as she stared Simmons down. Beneath the disappointment in Hand's eyes, she could see the deep rooted concern she had for Simmons.

May gently took hold of her arm, grabbing Fitz as well and started to guide them out the room, when Hand stopped them.

"No. Stay. Might get the message through her thick skull" Hand said, a slight tone of affection. May nodded and guided them to the corner of the room where they silently watched as Hand lectured Simmons. It was tough to watch for those few minutes, it reminded Skye of times of when she was in foster homes and the orphanage, the yelling and lectures (looking back, Skye noted that most of it was unwarranted, only the few times like when she was feeling particularly down and rebellious and thought she would be tough to drink some scotch, were the only few times that it was actually needed). The only thing different about this lecture to the others, was that at the Hand surged forward and pulled Simmons into a hug. Skye watched as Simmons sagged in Hand's arms and let out tiny sobs as she clung to her. She could hear Hand murmuring "you silly, silly pup" against Simmons head and she soothing rubbed her back.

It seemed like a very intimate scene and so Skye looked away, looking at her mentor who was softly smiling at the scene in front of them. She glanced at Fitz, who was chewing his bottom lip nervously, she could almost imagine him with a tail, swishing it nervously in a situation like this.

Clint moved forward and tapped Hand on the shoulder and raised an eyebrow. A silent demand.

"Clint, honestly." May grumbled, watching as Hand passed Simmons off to Clint. He held her close, softly placing small kisses over her face before resting his head on top of her. This time, May did start to guide them out the door, throwing Simmons a quick "You have an hour and a half, make the most of it"

May sighed and looked at Fitz and Skye, wondering what to do with the two of them. She supposed she could explain to Skye what exactly is going on. That seemed like the best idea, plus she could keep Fitz quiet by giving him popcorn.

"Lets go, I need to explain what's going on" She said and led them away.

"So what exactly is going on May? You never said Simmons was in a different pack, I always thought that Fitz and Simmons sort of came as a package?" Skye questioned, getting comfortable in her chair.

May sighed "It's slightly complicated. There are several packs, but none are as close as our pack and Hand's pack. We're close because of couples like Simmons and Clint. Clint is in our pack, you'll meet him at another time, and Simmons is a part of Hand's pack. The two of them are mates. There are several others like this, Victoria's own mate, Izzy, was a part of our pack, still is, but spends most of her time with Victoria and her pack of misfits. Due to this bond between so many of our pack members, we treat each other as we would treat our own. Sometimes it causes a bit of tension between Victoria and Natasha, as well as Maria and Kara. Sometimes they feel like the other is a direct threat to their position and power." she explained

"So, because so many people in our pack are bonded to each other, we're basically like one pack but we're not?" Skye asked

"Basically" Fitz supplied "It's definitely a weird dynamic, Maria likes to document it, she says other packs seem to find their soul mates within their own pack and so far it seems to be only our packs that differ from the norm. We're still looking into that. You do know that everyone has a soul mate, right? I've heard cases of orphanages run by religious folk sometimes don't tell the children about the soul mate thing, and then when they are fostered, everyone just kinda assumes that you know. Anyways,you find your soulmae through touch, like an electric shock when you touch their skins. The wolf serum enhances this, sort of, basically once you meet your soul mate and touch them, you start the bonding sequence and this is where the wolf serum enhances because normal folk just tend to feel their soul mates emotions but us wolves can feel the emotion plus physical pain. Can be quite a bitch, I've heard. It's all quiet spectacular, the whole soul mate thing, Simmons and I have been looking into developing technology that might help others to find their soul mates easier and researching int-" Fitz began to ramble excited, but was cut off by May. Skye did know about the soul mate thing but she never believed it, because of the nuns.

"Which you are not supposed to be doing Fitz, every agent at S.H.I.E.L.D knows that soul mates is a thing and if they think there is a way to find them easier and have their bond enhanced, it would cause chaos." May said, checking her watch. "We should probably start making our way to the meet up point"

"Already?" Fitz groaned, checking the time, then glancing sadly at the amount of popcorn that he had left.

"Yes, lets go"

May, Fitz and Sky met Simmons on their travels to the meet up point. All of them deciding to strategically ignore the fact that Simmons prim and proper clothes were not so prim and proper. They also decided to ignore the fact that she was using a hoodie that was a few sizes too big for her. The only one to subtly acknowledge the fact that Simmons just had sex was May, she had ran her fingers through Simmons obvious sex hair, trying to get it to be less obvious. Of course Skye and Fitz giggled like children when that happened.

The group met up with Coulson, who look slightly grim, and there was a tall blonde women standing next to him, grinning away at them and Skye couldn't help but think she could easily one of the most beautiful people she had ever met. Unnoticed by Skye, May gave her a look, she seemed slightly confused before realisation took over and she had to hide a smile.

"Ward has been put on suspension until further notice, for misconduct in mentoring amongst other things. So Commander Hill has assigned us a replacement, everyone meet Agent Bobbi Morse"


	7. Agent Bobbi Morse

Operation: Shadows

Chapter 7

"Bobbi Morse" the tall women introduced herself, holding her hand out, a little knowing smirk on her face as she shook May's hand. Skye could see that May face also had a tiny smirk as she winked discreetly at Bobbi.

"Nice to meet you when we aren't running for lives, half dead" May commented, sharing a laugh with the other agent.

"It's nice to meet you Agent Morse, you are a living legend at sci-tech! One of the very few scientist to go on to become a legend with a call sign. It's also nice to meet another biochemist, there aren't many of us in S.H.I.E.L.D, you must come to lab and work with us some time!" Simmons gushed, eagerly shaking Bobbi's hand.

"Call me Bobbi please, and I will take you up on that offer Simmons, sounds like it will be fun" Bobbi laughed, quickly shaking Fitz's hand before facing Skye with a sly smile.

"Simmons stop fan girling, you're embarrassing me" Fitz scolded his friend, a small smirk on his face.

What is with the smirking? The three of them act like...oh. Right. Now Skye got it, Bobbi must be a wolf of the pack. Skye really needed to work on her senses, particularly on smelling other wolves. Bobbi turned to face Skye, the smirk turning into a curious, yet, confident smile as she stuck her hand out politely.

"Well I do believe, since no one has seen you around S.H.I.E.L.D much, so you must be the cute consultant Agent

Coulson told me about"

Skye smiled, feeling a blush starting in her neck. What the heck was wrong with her? "that would be me, I'm not only the cute consultant, I'm the cutest one on the team. Nice to meet you Bobbi" Skye said, grinning as she clasped Bobbi's hand.

As soon as their hands touched, an electric current (well, that's the only way she could describe it) seemed to flow through her body, she went to automatically pull back but Bobbi gripped her hand tighter, a grin on her face.

"Well this is certainty exciting" Bobbi commented, twisting their hands as if she was examining Skye's hand.

"It was definitely unexpected, but at least I know you will have no problem fitting in on this Agent Morse -"Bobbi, please"- we better get going, we have an interesting case to look at once we get on the bus, and by interesting case, I mean clean up duty. Thor came and left a mess again" Coulson said sighing and ignoring Bobbi's comment for the time being. Turning to her, he grinned "You'll love our bus"

"I hate clean up duty" Simmons grumbled and followed Coulson to their plane.

"That is not a bus. That is a big ass plane" Bobbi said, astounded as she stood with her bags looking up at their plane.

"It was a gift from Fury, you'll love it, I've heard you've got a taste for some of the fine beverages in life. We've got only the best on board" Coulson laughed as he led the team onto the plane.

"So, Skye" Bobbi said, walking backwards as she examined the "chill room" (named by Fitz, there was also a rule banning Fitz from naming things) she trailed her fingers over the furniture before turning to face Skye with a sly grin. "tell me about yourself."

Skye just looked at Bobbi. "Are you serious? I'm pretty sure you already know everything there is to know about me"

Bobbi laughed "I know what Natasha and May have told." 

Skye snorted "You know that's like everything, right?" she questioned.

Bobbi leaned over the back of the couch "No, that's just the key points of your life, you're an orphan, never had a stable foster home, had very very dodgy foster parents, nuns were pretty horrible. You have bad dreams often, you are an amazing hacker. You have parent issues, well that's a given, the only currently parental figures that you have right now are May, Coulson and Natasha, probably the only adults to have shown you kindness for a prolonged amount of time. I know that this is a very sensitive subject for you from the way you are clenching you hands and teeth and the steely look you're giving me" Bobbi concluded "There are probably a few other things that aren't important, but Skye, I want to get to know you on a more personal level, your favourite food, colour, perfect idea of a date, all that shazam."

Skye laughed, trying to relax herself, Bobbi was right when she said she hit a sore spot "Well, all that shazam could take a while."

"Great" Bobbi said grinning "We'll discuss it over dinner when we land in England."

"I doubt we will have any time to stop off for dinner" Skye said, wandering over to sit on the couch in preparation for take off.

"I can be very persuasive" Bobbi said, joining Skye on the couch, the need to touch her was over-whelming. Did Skye even notice the intense tingling under her skin? Bobbi ran a hand through her hair in frustration as Skye just simply hummed at her response. This was going no where. She could just reach out and take what she wants. The wolf side of her seemed to growl in agreement, kill two birds with one stone; assert herself as the dominate one in their relationship and complete their bond. It was such a tempting idea, but she knew that it would destroy any potential relationship. She wasn't even sure if Skye wanted a relationship or if she would rather be platonic soul mates. Glancing at the younger women, she sighed. Just great. She propped her legs up on the table and flung an arm carelessly around Skye's shoulders.

"Coulson doesn't like it when you put your feet on the table" Skye said, turning to look at Bobbi. She leaned forward and grabbed several coasters. She lifted up Bobbi's feet with ease and slid them under. "This is how I get away with it, prevents him from complaining about ruining his precious bus" she finished, grinning widely and leaned back against Bobbi's arm, almost curling up at Bobbi's side.

Bobbi smiled and pulled Skye closer and pressed a kiss to the side of her temple.

"So" Skye dragged out, flopping down on Bobbi's bed, letting her head fall onto Bobbi's stomach. Currently they were using her bunk to have little meetings. Why? Skye had no idea. The only person who didn't know about the wolf thing was Coulson, and it was showing, as he knew there was something they were all hiding from him, he just didn't know what. It was making him a very irritable person to be around. Despite Coulson's flaws of wanting to know everything, Skye really liked the guy. He was like the father figure she never had, and if May wasn't mates with Natasha then she would have pegged the two of them to be soul mates from the way they interacted with each other. Something in the back of her mind just screamed to her that there was something between them, some sort of connection. She would have to do some sneaky spy stuff to figure that one out.

"So?" Bobbi parroted, flipping through a magazine that barely held her attention (Skye liked to think that the only thing that could hold Bobbi's attention right now was Skye.)

"Is there anything else you guys are keeping form me about the whole wolf thing?" She asked, turning her head to look at the others in the room.

May was sitting on the small chair, tossing a ball up and down, looking very bored and "un-May" like. Normally she would be hiding in the cockpit and sulking about something, instead she was actually spending time with them. After Skye had finished going through her transformation (though she still had to actually transform into a wolf, apparently they were waiting for the perfect opportunity since they couldn't exactly explain to Coulson why there was a massive wolf on their plane. Skye thought this was an easily solved problem; simply tell Coulson the truth) May had spent less time with them, according to everyone else this was pretty normal, they had never seen May spend that much time with the pack, not after "The Incident" (another thing Skye had to figure out, shouldn't be too hard)

Fitz and Simmons were sitting on Bobbi's desk, swinging their legs and they whispered to each other animatedly.

"Probably" Simmons replied, briefly looking away from Fitz to glance at Skye. "Not too sure how things run in your pack" 

"Simmons, you've been with me for this from the start" Skye claimed, looking annoyed.

Simmons just shrugged her shoulders "I wasn't sure if Agent May told you things whilst I wasn't there or not. Remember, I'm technically not a member of this pack, I'm an in-law" She finished, giggling at her joke.

"Oh, that's a good way to put it" Bobbi said, grinning. "Never-thought of it like that. It kinda is, suppose."

Simmons flushed lightly, smiling at the praise from Bobbi.

"It doesn't matter what we are and aren't telling you. Let me put it this way, it's a trust exercise plus it allows us to check how deep your initial connection to the pack it. The deeper it is, the more instinctual it is to trust the pack, which is a good thing. Your connection seems pretty deep. Natasha is please. We thought you might be more trouble" May commented, never taking her eyes off the ball. Something seemed to be troubling her, Skye thought. "Besides, you're ability to tell who is and who isn't a wolf is amazing. It took everyone else a while before they got to the speed you are at."

Skye buried her head in Bobbi's stomach at the comment, pleased that May and Natasha were proud of her. She felt Bobbi's hand slide through her hair, gently scraping her nails across her scalp. She let a groan slip through her lips, the action sending pleasant tingles through out her body, a gentle, happy hum settled in her bones. If she could purr, she would, instead she settle for making small noises of happiness.

"You're too cute" Bobbi murmured, her focus settling on Skye, deeming everything else to be completely unimportant.

Skye hummed in agreement "I am very cute. You're not so shabby yourself" this elected a snort from May.

"Coulson's about to leave his office" May said, standing up and stretching. "Don't worry about what we aren't telling you Skye, it's like a rite of passage, to figure a lot of things out or end up in situations where we have to explain it, 9/10 times we end up in situations where we just have to explain. FitzSimmons, I suggest you get to the lab. Coulson will be extremely suspicious if we are meeting in Bobbi's bunk, especially since the two just found out they are soul mates." she finished, walking out the room.

FitzSimmons glanced at each other before saying their goodbyes and scrambled to their lab. Everyone was eager to avoid upsetting Coulson. They couldn't be bothered with all the questions and his irritable moods. That, combined with Simmons terrible lying skills, equaled to everyone in the pack making sure that Simmons and Coulson were never alone together. It has led to some pretty interesting lies and excuses as to why they all needed to be with Simmons right at that moment. It seemed much worse as Coulson knew that if he could get Simmons alone, he could find out what he needed to know.

Basically it was creating a lot of tension on the bus. According to Bobbi. Skye thought the tension was mainly between May and Coulson, and it was sexual tension, which was causing an uneasiness around everyone else (of course this made Bobbi laugh, but she did agree with Skye. There was a lot of sexual tension being built up between May and Coulson)

Skye turned and rested her chin on Bobbi's stomach and stared up at her soul mate. Soul mate. The word brought a smile to her face. All her life, the thought that she might have a soul mate kept her anchored to the world. It seem so cheesy and over-used as a terrible movie plot nowadays, but it was true. Growing up in many, unloving environments, kinda makes a kid feel pretty worthless, that they are a waste of space and that the world would simply just be better off without them.

Skye pushed Bobbi's shirt up and started placing random kisses over her stomach, Bobbi let out a hum of appreciation.

"Not that I don't love the affection, but why don't you bring those lips up here? Or better yet, move them a little lower." Bobbi said suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows at Skye.

Skye chuckled and slid her body up, making sure to apply pressure in all the right places - "Such a tease" - before settling herself firmly on top of Bobbi, slowly kissing her neck.

"I said lips, not neck, you're teasing Skye" Bobbi muttered, gently tugging on Skye's hair to guide their lips together. Skye just grinned, it was fun to get Bobbi riled up like this. Finally Skye moved her head and slowly pressed her lips against Bobbi's.

"Mmm, much better" she mumbled against Skye's lips.

The two stayed in that position, simply kissing and letting their hands wander a bit, neither willing to go too far knowing that soon they will be landing in London for their clean up job, or worse, Coulson will stroll in for his daily questions. It was moments like these that Skye was going to cherish.

It was a few hours later (and a small, cozy nap), that Coulson knocked cautiously on Bobbi's door. Bobbi called him in and he appeared with a small, proud smile on his face.

"While I am surprised the two of you aren't naked, I am grateful that the two of you aren't naked. Also, I've applied for you mandatory time off after this mission, if you want it of course." Coulson offered.

Bobbi smiled, gently prodding Skye awake.

"Mh?" 

"Skye, Coulson has applied for our mandatory time off after this mission, if you want it" Bobbi replied, running her hand soothing through Skye's hair. Bobbi had found out pretty quickly that this was one of Skye's favourite things and would silently demand it of off Bobbi

"Sounds great" Skye mumbled, pushing her face further into Bobbi's shoulder "sex, sex and more sex, what more could a girl want?"

Coulson made a face at Skye's comments "Skye, please, I do not want to hear what your plans are for your time off" 

"Well what else would we be doing? It's kind of mandatory to complete a non-platonic bond." 

"Something cute, like making cupcakes, cooking dinner together, sharing comic books, bonding over stuff." Coulson rattled off, looking fondly at the two young women

"Awww Coulson, the romantic in you shines through at moments like these, speaking form experience, eh?" Skye said, chuckling and subtlety trying to press the matter of May and Coulson.

Coulson chuckled "I wish I was Skye." he said, smiling lightly. "We are about to land soon, so I suggest you get ready"

Skye groaned as she shifted through the rubble of alien stuff and broken buildings. This certainty had to be the most boring part of being an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Cheer up Skye, a couple more hours of this and we can be on our way to heaven" Bobbi said, laughing and looking suggestively at her mate.

Skye rolled her eyes at Bobbi's attempt to cheer her up, almost ignoring Fitz and Simmons comments of "gross" and "they are cute, sickeningly so but do they have to be so crude".

"I'm not being crude Simmons, Bobbi is! I'm just trying to shift through this shit without thoughts of Bobbi lying in bed, waiting for me..preferably naked... naked and kissing and..." Skye trailed off, her eyes glazing over with lust at the thought of what she and Bobbi would be doing soon.

"Skye! Skye, Earth to Skye, hello?" Fitz said, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"Huh?" She asked, dazed.

Simmons laughed with Bobbi as Skye looked at them, confused "did I just zone out?"

"Yes you did, now please get back to work and think about that in your own time" Coulson said as he passed by them with May, the two of them looking slightly annoyed "for once, I wish Thor would send someone to clean up his mess instead of leaving us to do it." he grumbled, picking up a bit of rubble and eyeing it with distaste. May just rolled her eyes and took it off of him, flinging it over to the pile designated for non-alien parts.

"While it is tedious work, it is a great opportunity to further advances in science as a whole. Every time Thor doesn't clean up his mess, we get new technology or information to research, always creates a buzz in the lab! It's fantastic really, I wish I were in a lab to study these parts of the ship. It would be fascinating to see what material it is made out of and to see whether or not it can be found on Earth and what the possibilities are for this type of material!" Simmons rambled excitedly, looking at them, waiting for someone to share her enthusiasm.

"I remember when the invasion happened, I actually forced myself into the lab so I could study the aliens. I wanted to see how they functioned and how they differed from us. I was so excited for them, never mind their technology. Although sometimes I wonder if it's weird that I want to dissect things, alive or dead. I want to see how they work. Must be a biologist thing" Bobbi mused, looking at Simmons who nodded enthusiastically at Bobbi's words.

Skye made a face at Bobbi "you actually want to willing dissect something? Gross."

Bobbi laughed and wrapped an arm around Skye's shoulders, pulling her close. The urge to be in contact with her had became slightly too unbearable. Skye automatically cuddled closer into Bobbi's side, accepting the affection from her.

"It's not so bad." Bobbi shrugged "you get used to it, maybe I should teach you a little biology, it comes in handy when you're out in the field for a long time on a mission and something happens."

"Maybe" Skye said, not too keen on learning biology.

At that moment, Coulson's phone rang.

"Coulson."

…

"understood."

…

"We will get right on it."

Coulson turned to them "we have a mission"

Their new mission had went horrible, from a personal perspective, from the perspective of S.H.I.E.L.D, they had done their job extremely well and apparently it warranted them for a stand down, or that could be down to the fact that their two specialists were basically unresponsive to anything and it was a miracle that May managed to fly the bus to the S.H.I.E.L.D base that they were required to report to.

They had all just came back from debriefing. Due to them all being involved within the mission so closely, they had to debrief to another agent; Agent Hill. Skye thought it was weird that they were debriefing to the deputy director, but from the looks she kept giving May and Bobbi, she figured it was because she wanted to keep an eye on them to see how the staff effected them. Apparently an intense emotion would trigger an instant transformation

for an un-trained wolf, so instantly everyone was grateful that Skye did not pick the staff up, not that Skye didn't feel it through her forming bond with Bobbi, it was like she could feel the rage and fear that was surging through her mate but it was through a window. It barely effected Skye and she was happy about that because right now Bobbi needed her and she couldn't allow herself to be distracted by her own emotions.

Skye gently laced her fingers with Bobbi's, gripping her hand tightly and led them to their temporary quarters on the base. She opened the door and looked around the room, it was a basic, but nice, set up. It appeared to have one room but the couch looked comfy enough to sleep on should the situation demand it. She gently led her mate to the bedroom and pushed her on the bed, with a gentle "stay here" she made her way into the bathroom and was pleased to see luxury bath soaps. She turned on the tap, starting a hot bath for Bobbi to relax in and pour one of the fancy bubble baths in (the nicest smelling one, she might steal it) and went to find towels, hoping that they were just as nice and luxury as everything else was in this room.

A knock on the door tore her attention from her actions, she quickly check on Bobbi before answering the door. The women was still staring silently at the wall, her shoulders slumped in defeat, her hands limp on her lap, despite the defeated looked, there was an air of anger around Bobbi. It was a hard image to shake from her head as she opened the door. It was Maria.

"Hey" Skye mumbled, stepping back and allowing her to enter the room.

"I brought your go-bags from my room" Maria said. Each pack member held a go-bag for each other in nearly every area that they resided in. It mainly consisted of clothes that they found comfy and that made them feel like they were home. It sounded weird, but sometimes something as simple as wearing your favourite clothes or pyjamas eased that pain you were feeling.

"Thank you, do you want something to drink?" Skye asked, taking the bags from Maria.

She shook her head "No thanks, I was just dropping the bags off and quickly checking in on Bobbi. I'm about to go see how May is doing"

Skye nodded in understanding "I – I don't think Bobbi is doing too good" she whispered "She's just staring at the wall, I've never seen someone looked so angry and defeated. I was about to take her for a bath, to try and ease and relax her a little"

"Good idea" Maria said as she made her way to the bedroom to look at Bobbi. She knelt down in front of the blonde haired women. "Hey Morse, how are you holding up?" she questioned her. Bobbi just looked down at Maria and gritted her teeth.

"I'm doing just fine. Stop acting like I'm broken or something" she hissed at them, shifting her eyes to focus on Skye, who winced at the silent accusation.

"There is no need for that Morse, we are just trying to help you." Maria reprimanded lightly, staring sternly at her, gripping her hands.

"I don't need your help" Bobbi stated, standing up. Her body tense, hands clenching and un-clenching.

"Bobbi..." Skye tried, she reached out for her, wanting to touch her, wanting to comfort her distressed mate. The wolf in her was growling in the need to protect and comfort her mate.

Bobbi just stared at Skye, her body rigid as her eyes displayed her rage. It was a tense stare off between the two, Bobbi, hard and unforgiving, Skye, pleading and safety. Bobbi's shoulders slumped in defeat as she flopped back down onto the bed.

Maria just looked between the two, nodding at Skye as she stood, determining that Skye had a handle on the situation and could deal with it herself.

"if you two need anything, call me" Maria said, patting Skye's shoulder comfortingly on her way out.

Skye nodded absently as Maria left, focusing on Bobbi instead, who sat with her head in her hands. She moved slowly to the older women and sat down next to her, gently wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. Placing a soft kiss on the side of her head, she simply rocked them for a few moments before remembering the bath that she was running for Bobbi.

"C'mon" Skye mumbled, gently pulling Bobbi up and leading her to the bathroom.

She began to silently pull Bobbi's clothes off, maintaining eye contact to make sure Bobbi was okay with what she was doing. Skye didn't stop to admire Bobbi's body once she was undressed and simply led her to the edge of the bath tub. Bobbi looked at the water and silently got in the tub. Skye crouched down at the edge of the tub and reached for the washcloth on the other end of the tub. However, Bobbi gripped her hand and looked at her.

"Join me."

Skye hesitated, she wasn't sure if she should. Bobbi wasn't in the right state of mind at the moment and didn't want to do anything that could lead to something more.

"Please" Bobbi begged, tightening her grip on Skye's wrist. Skye nodded.

"Just let me go lock the door" she said, as she got up to lock the door.

With the door locked, Skye began to undress, feeling Bobbi's eyes on her as she did. As she stood naked in front of her, Bobbi's eyes ran over her body, before moving forward in the tub allowing Skye to climb in behind her. The contact was truly relaxing as Bobbi leaned back against Skye, who gripped her tightly, kissing the top of her head and the two of them lay in the steaming bath, taking silent comfort in each other presence, wondering how everything got so messed up.

"You know" Bobbi mumbled, breaking the silence "We still haven't discussed when you are going to shift for the first time."


	8. Blood Moon and Complications

Operation Shadows

Chapter 8

A blood moon was due tonight and Skye was shaking with excitement. Her knee was jittering as she sat the table, attempting to eat breakfast. After the incident for the berserker staff, the team was once again order to take rest (mainly since no one could pilot their plane) and to refuel and stock up the plane.

It was the perfect opportunity to allow Skye to shift for the first time.

Well they could have done it anytime in the passed two days but Skye wanted to be dramatic, plus it made Bobbi smile for the first time when she said she wanted to go with Bobbi's idea and shift on the day of the blood moon.

Bobbi's hand slid on top of her knee to stop her knee shaking, a small squeeze of her hand brought instant comfort to Skye, calming her down and allowed her to stop her leg shaking. It was pure bliss, the irritable hum under her skin momentarily stop, she could feel a purr in the back of her throat that she managed to keep to herself. Then the hand squeezed a little to tightly. She must have annoyed Bobbi with her response, everything was annoying Bobbi. Skye felt like she was walking on egg shells around her mate. A part of her was angry, annoyed that Bobbi was acting this way but the majority realised that this was not Bobbi. This was the rage and fear that she save for when she went to battle, for when she battled the evil in the world and needed to do things that required no hesitancy that would come with the morality of any human being. The person that has been present for the past few days was not, Bobbi Morse, the whacky, star wars loving nerd that was her mate, no this was Mockingbird, out in full force, always listening, always paying attention.

Bobbi had dark shadows under eyes from the lack of sleep she was getting, she was eating whatever she could whenever she can, an installed habit that came with every agent that went under-cover for the majority of their career. Bobbi jumped, it was barely visible, but it was there, whenever someone got too close to her and in general found it difficult to relax.

Skye could deal with all this, she could deal with the fact that Bobbi wouldn't let her curl up to her at night, or that they couldn't take baths together like they did for the first few days (and the first day on the incident), however, Skye could not stand the fact that Bobbi would slip back into their room at night, barely look at her before going for a shower in an attempt to wash of the scent. It seemed Bobbi forgot that if you hang around someone so much, their scent does not wash off that easy and Skye could smell them all over Bobbi when she came to the bed at night.

May.

May's scent was all over Bobbi, and to make matters worse, it wasn't just May's scent. Coulson's scent lingered around her as well and it was pissing Skye off. Bobbi was barely touching her, sometimes she barely even looked at Skye and the itch under her skin for contact with Bobbi was getting beyond irritable. It was effecting Skye's mood, she could tell, but she couldn't do anything about it. The only thing that was able to take her mind was the fact the she was going to shift for the first time today.

Unfortunately, the people that she had been looking forward to doing it with since she realised she would shift into a wolf were currently assholes in her mind.

She was furious at May for having sex with Bobbi and she was furious with Bobbi for having sex with May...amongst other more important things. Bobbi having sex with May and Coulson was not exactly the problem, heck Skye herself was more than willing to fuck Sharon a week ago and she was mated to Maria, no it was more the fact that Bobbi hasn't mated with her yet, was refusing to touch her and sometimes refused to acknowledge her existence. Even worse, May knew all this and was still sleeping with Bobbi, and Coulson, what the heck was that all about?

Skye grumbled angrily into her cereal, glaring at it as if glaring at it would solve all her problems. Bobbi whacked her knee against hers, causing Skye to turn and scowl at her; _'What?'_

Bobbi raised a single surprised eyebrow and spooned a mouthful of cereal into her mouth, an innocent gesture as she flickered her towards May _'She wants you'_

Skye glared at her before turning to look at May, sulking as she spooned up some cereal.

"Skye. Were is your mind? I've been calling your name for 5 minutes now" May reprimanded

"Sorry" Skye mumbled sarcastically into her cereal, not really caring that May was attempting to talking to her. Skye was annoyed with her and did not want to talk to her.

"Skye." This time it was from Coulson, now that was interesting, she raised an eyebrow at him, flickering her eyes between May and Coulson. She settled down her spoon, pushing her bowl away from her and crossed her arms on the table and stared at the impatiently.

"_You're acting like a child" _a voice that sounded suspiciously like Natasha voiced in her head.

"_Shut up"_Skye automatically rebutted, instantly regretting it as she felt a hot flash of pain sore through her body as Natasha growled, seemingly right in her ear, she couldn't help but flinch away from the sound.

"Skye?" Coulson questioned, looking at her with a mixture of confusion and concern. He seemed to glance between May and Bobbi, as if they would give him the answers he was looking for. Bobbi automatically shovelled another spoonful of cereal into her mouth, glancing at May, keeping up the innocent act. May sighed and rested against the chair and looked at Skye.

"You're making things difficult Skye." she stated, just looking at her "Agent Hill wants to meet you for evaluation later today, most likely not until the end of her shift."

"Knowing Hill that would be about 9 or 10pm" Coulson joked, sipping his coffee, very aware of the tension that seemed to be building between the three women at the table.

"Fantastic" Skye murmured, not entirely sarcastic as she knew what the meeting was about. She was excited, she just thought she would be sharing the experience with her supposed soul-mate as well as May, who right now where some of the most important people in her life right now. She couldn't really get over the fact that they were fucking, especially with Coulson. May, she could understand wanting to have sex with him, there was some weird sexual tension between the two, but Bobbi and Coulson? Skye shook her head in an attempt to get that image out of her head - she was pretty sure she could hear Natasha, and possibly Maria, laughing hysterically in the back of her mind. Stupid mental mind pack link-.

There was an awkward silence that just seemed to stretch on and on. Skye sighed and pushed back from the table, she dumped her dish in the sink, leaving it for later. She just wanted away from the three of them, they were not helping her state of mind. Skye wondered if Maria minded if she went looking for her the now, she really didn't want to be around anyone on the team.

Deciding it would be great opportunity to work on her senses in her human form, she decided to take up the challenge. She grabbed a few essentials and shoved them in a bag and left the homely quarters in search of their beta, unsure as to where their alpha was at the current moment but Skye wasn't sure if she wanted to be anywhere near Natasha at the moment. She seemed to find the entire situation hilarious, not to say that Maria didn't, but Maria was as close to the situation as Natasha was. May and Natasha were mates.

Skye sighed once again, looking around, letting the external stimulants wash over her in an attempt to find Maria. She let the scents over everyone flow through her nose as she tried to hone in on the most familiar scent. It took a bit and she must have looked like an idiot, just standing there, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed, taking deep breaths, alternatively, she could have looked like a stressed out agents trying to calm down after a particularly stressful mission. Maybe she looked like a mixture of both. Finally, she managed to capture Maria's scent, it was a bit scatted but she focuses on the strongest one there was. She mindless followed her nose, confident that she wasn't wrong.

Only she encountered one problem that she did not think of. Security clearance. Groaning, Skye titled her head back and swivelled her body to survey the agents in front of her. What would be easier, pick pocketing a super spy for their clearance I.d or hacking into their system to open? Skye hummed, probably hacking, from what she has seen of S.H.I.E.L.D's ability to catch hackers as skilled as her, especially since she knew how S.H.I.E.L.D's operating system worked, she could probably get in and out without anyone really noticing, or so she hoped. It was worth a shot.

Glancing around to see if she was suspicious or not, she plunked down next to the door and pulled out her laptop, she could probably create a fake clearance level and put it onto her phone and let that act as a swipe card. Shouldn't be too hard.

It wasn't that hard, Skye thought with a snicker. Far too easy, she would have to talk to Maria about how easy it was to do that. It only took her about an hour to do so, for a organisation that prided themselves on being the top spies in the world, they were pretty oblivious to someone hacking into their systems. Skye didn't even seem innocent when you looked at her, apparently she got this look on her face when she was hacking, May described it as a mixture of mischief and mayhem.

Walking through each door and hallway, she continued to follow Maria's scent until she reached a door the read;

"**Deputy Director Maria Hill"**

Skye smiled lightly, letting herself fall back into a neutral expression as she knocked on the door.

"Come in Skye." came the professional voice of the deputy director.

Skye walked in sheepishly, she could hear the slight disapproval in Maria's voice. She closed the door behind her as she crept her way to sit in the chair in front of Maria's desk. She glanced up at the beta, hope in her eyes.

Maria just stared down at her, before sighing and rubbing her head "Do I even want to know how you got through the security doors?" 

Skye just shook her head in response, a small smile on her face.

"No, no you don't get to be proud of that" Maria reprimanded "what part of 'don't hack shield', did you not understand?"

Skye opened her mouth to reply, before promptly shutting it. She tried to evaluate the situation before her. There was no way now Maria was just going to let her chill in her office, she seemed to be really angry at her, which Skye thinks is totally unwarranted. She technically helped S.H.I.E.L.D find weak points in their security,but of course they wouldn't seem like that. Skye sighed a slouched in the chair, resigning to the fact that she was going to get yelled.

"Just get on with it" Skye mumbled, adverting her eyes and wincing at the fact that she did not think before she spoke. She closed her eyes tightly and shrunk down, trying to avoid being hit. Not that she thought Maria would hit here, it was just an ingrained habit.

She heard Maria sigh and the creaking of leather and she slid down further into her chair "I'm not going to hit you Skye, or yell at you for that matter. I just wanted to know. I should probably have you run through our systems and find our weak points. I'd have Stark do it, but I feel that you would be more competent and you wouldn't do anything stupid or selfish with the information that we are giving you access to, well, more like you couldn't." Maria finished, she leaned forward and clasped her hands, surveying the young women in front of her. "Skye what's wrong?" she asked softly.

Skye just shrugged her shoulders, feeling very much like a juvenile. She looked down at her feet before sighing "Nothing, I just wanted to get away from everyone and you are the only one I know for sure that was one this base. I know you're busy but I, I just wanted a break" Skye mumbled, feeling very vulnerable. The whole situation with Bobbi was throwing her off her usual mood set, once again. She was beginning to get really annoyed when this wolf thing decided to mess with her emotions.

"Okay" Maria hummed, looking and assessing her, determining what she needed "Well, I've been told that you like to sit in small spaces, unfortunately the only small space anywhere in here is at my desk."

Skye looked up, she could totally just sit and hide there. She gave Maria a little sheepish look.

Maria looked slightly surprised before sighing, her responsibility as the beta of the pack was starting to take more and more precedented over her work responsibilities and she shifted back in her seat and watched as Skye just scamped under her desk. Maria looked down at Skye, who easily found a comfortable position to lie in and pulled her laptop out and looked up at her with extreme innocence. Maria could already feel all the future headaches this girl was going to cause.

"If I tap you with my foot, you are to put earphones in and you are not allowed to listen to the conversation, do you understand? I can cancel most meetings for today but some I can not and I can not have you listening, understood?" Maria stated, staring at Skye, waiting for an answer.

Skye nodded "understood" she replied and started fiddling with things on her laptop.

Maria sighed and leaned forward, rubbing her temple. Yep, Skye was going to give her a decade worth of headaches.

Finally done with the day, Maria leaned forward, elbows resting heavily on her desk as her hands supported the weight of her head. This job was certainly something and she tried to at least act surprised when something ridiculous happens but honestly, she wasn't surprised anymore, the only thing that still surprised her (only just) was the amount of sheer stupidity her agents had sometimes, especially a certain Agent Barton, who, along with his partner in crime, Agent Romanoff, give her her daily intake of headaches. It caused even more of a headache when she tried to discipline Natasha on her mischief within shield, it always felt like she was challenging her to her right as Alpha and often caused Maria to just back down from the punishment. Although recently she was getting better at, after Natasha and herself had a discussion on where exactly the line is between pack workings and work workings.

It was another thing to go into the research. The research. That was also another headache. She still had to update new members across the pack, new findings and put some more information on the workings of her pack and Victoria's pack. Maria sighed loudly and pushed back from her desk slightly to look at the dozing wold at her feet. Skye was the only in the pack that did not know every thing, Maria often disagreed with Natasha on the principle that they should let their pack mates learn everything as they go along; Natasha thought that it would be far to confusing to tell them everything about this project in one go. It was rather confusing, Maria admitted that, it was confusing and complex therefore it should all be explained properly before injecting the person with their first dosage of the serum so that they have a full understanding of what is going on, rather than just figuring it all out as they go along. Maria wondered if Skye even knew about the head alpha yet, because that wasn't even classed as a headache in her mind, that was a migraine in the waiting.

If one little thread fell out in this project then there would be a lot of anger and bad feelings between shield and the avengers, more likely just two certain members of the avengers. They could never know about the wolf project, never mind the head alpha...the first alpha.

Which brought Maria to another issue. Phil Coulson. The original person for this project before Fury decided he wanted him on project T.A.H.I.T.I, a project that, contrary to popular belief, was not created along with the idea of the avengers, no, the T.A.H.I.T.I project was nearly as old as S.H.I.E.L.D itself, along with Operation: Shadows. May was wanting to let Phil in on the secret, claiming that being on a mobile command unit with five shifters seems like important knowledge for a team leader. Now, Maria agreed with this claim, along with the known fact that Phil Coulson was Melinda's and Natasha's mates, whether they like to acknowledge it or not, although from what she is hearing from Bobbi, they have acknowledge it alright and Bobbi is joining in on the fun. It was debatable that Coulson had the right to know about the shifter programme, due to being mates with two shifters. Maria had decided to take the matter up with Fury, although when the first started the project, he gave her permission to tell anyone she saw fit or whoever was relevant to the situation. Phil Coulson, however, was an entire matter that made Fury twitchy and any decisions about what he should or shouldn't know was to go through him, which Maria found ridiculous. The man was not going to be happy when (yes, when, Maria was certain that this was all going to back fire in Fury's face) when he found out things were being kept from him. Maria sighed.

Skye woke up suddenly and sleepily glanced up at Maria as she heard the women sigh for the sixth time in five minutes

"You a'right?" She mumbled, sitting up and wincing at the pain in her back.

"C'mon on out, your back must be in a lot of pain" Maria said softly, holding out her hand for Skye to take.

Maria had conflicted feelings about Skye, she was the first person in the pack that she felt responsibility for, of course she felt responsibly for everyone as the second in command, but this was like what Natasha felt constantly when just looking at her pack, on the other hand, Skye often elicited sexual feelings from her and Sharon, despite not being mates with either of them, then again, Maria and Sharon have always been close with Bobbi, and now they are close with her soulmate. It was complicated. She would just leave it at that for now.

She easily pulled Skye and herself up and guided Skye over to the couch and automatically pulled Skye on her lap and rested her chin on Skye's head, allowing the close contact to bring a sense of comfort. Skye sat in silence, understanding that Maria simply needed a minute from what was surely a stressful day.

After a moment, Maria slid out from under Skye with a small "thanks". The two women just stared at each other for a moment, deliberating on what to say. Maria knew exactly what she needed to talk about, it was more on how to bring it up. She supposed she should be blunt, it wasn't exactly a terrifying concept, it was something that Skye has been anticipating for weeks now.

"Your due to shift for the first time today. Where do you want to do it?" she asked Skye, shifting to fully face the women, who appeared nervous at the mention of shifting.

"Erm, I don't know, I thought just maybe my room but then..." Skye just trailed off, looking down at her hands.

"Then?" Maria pressed, already assuming what the problem was. Bobbi and May.

Skye looked down, looking unsure as to whether or not she should be actually bothered by this "I'm in a mood with Bobbi and May and I don't want to be near them when I shift for the first time" she eventually spilled out.

Maria sat back, it was what she thought. Which was going to be a problem. Skye was obviously punishing them by not having them near her when she shifted for the first time, depriving them of witnessing something that the two have been extremely excited about, despite trying to fight the effects of the berserker staff. Maria wondered if Skye thought about the regret she was surely going to have in the future by preventing the people closest to her from witnessing this act.

"Skye" she started slowly, gathering her thoughts " I get that you are mad at them for what they are doing...but have you considered the reason Bobbi is having sex with Melinda?" seeing Skye shake her head, Maria continued "the two of you had one more mission before having your mandatory week off – which the two of you have now declined- and it went bad. Probably as bad as a mission can go without someone dying or being kidnapped. Bobbi was in some state, as you saw, after she touched the staff. There was a lot of rage and hatred for the world around her, she was full of aggression and so was May.

They two of them obviously thought that sex was the best way to cope with the feelings they had, only, Bobbi couldn't have sex with you in her current state, she would feel far too guilty afterwards, she thought you would feel used and she didn't want that to be the memory you had when you first had sex with her, so she thought May was the perfect solution to this – and she was, she just got Coulson involved, although hesitant at first to have sex with both Bobbi and May, but it was Coulson, he would never pass down an opportunity like that. Did you ever consider this Skye? I don't mean to invalidate your feelings, the way Bobbi has been treating you lately is outrageous and is probably going to get chewed out by Natasha sooner or later, but depriving your closest pack mates from witnessing your first shift is generally frowned upon, it still happens of course is situation similar to yours, but just think about it okay? I say think about it for a few hours but we plan to have you go through your first shift within the hour, it's up to you Skye" Maria finishes, looking at her watch with slight concern before looking at the girl in front of her. She smiled reassuringly, placing a comforting hand on her knee as she watched her take in her words.

Skye stood with a sigh, walking over to the door "I'll see you in your room within the hour"

Maria sighed as she watched the girl go, things with Skye really needed to be sorted out and explained. It was easier with the rest of the pack as none of them have as many issues as Skye did. Clearly not explaining things was not working with Skye. She really needed to talk to Natasha.

Skye sulked around the base, not really stopping to look, but rather just to keep moving. She knew she was due at Maria's soon but she couldn't be bothered, the whole thing with Bobbi was really putting her off shifting. Skye glanced out a passing window. Blood moon. It looked spectacular and was the whole reason for her wanting to shift today – but, it had been Bobbi's idea to have her first shit on a blood moon.

She really needed to talk to Bobbi, or rather, touch, as the bond was demanding. Growing up in the environment she did, she learned to gain a very high pain tolerance and so the itchy, painful need to be with Bobbi had been rather easy to ignore; until now. Of course. Bonds were funny things that just seemed to know what was a good idea for their bond and what wasn't. Most considered it a blessing, but those rare few found it annoying as whenever you had an argument and did not want to reconcile with your mate for a while, it urged you to go right back and apologise.

Skye groaned softly, finding herself outside of Maria's door. Stupid pack mentality, always causing yourself to go where you are needed.

Readying herself, she knocked on Maria's door, waiting for her – or Sharon – to open. The deputy director never leaves her door unlocked, in fact, Skye was pretty sure she quadruple locks it every night – unless Sharon is out drinking or on a mission – and would leave traps across her quarters.

Sharon opened the door with a grin "There she is, the wolf of the moment!" She announced as she moves back, allowing Skye to walk into the room with only Natasha and Maria.

She missed Bobbi.

Natasha was looking at her with a calculated look, one that the others had dubbed her "Black Widow" face. It unnerved her. It was probably because she has been ignoring Melinda. Maria's face, however, made her second guess that, as she was observing her with a similar face. Skye paused. Has she done something wrong? Has she done something wrong in the last few days? The only thing she thinks that could warrant these looks was because she was ignoring Bobbi and Melinda, to be fair, they totally deserved it.

"Wow kiddo, what did you do to warrant the Black Widow and the Commander?" Sharon teased, as she leaned against the table, near Maria. Skye watched as she gave a small frown at them, clearly confused as to what was going on as well.

"Have I done something wrong?" Skye asked, trying to appear casual and unaffected by their gazes.

The four of them stood in silence, Maria and Natasha not answering, Skye looking at Sharon and giving her a confused look, Sharon simply shrugging in response, her hand sliding towards Maria. Maria glanced briefly at Sharon as her hand touched Maria's side, a brief smile appeared on her face before she turned to staring emotionlessly at Skye.

Natasha pushed off from where she stood and walked towards Skye. "Have you decided about whether or not you want Melinda and Bobbi here?" 

"Are you serious?" Skye laughed, anger seeping up in her voice "You kept staring weirdly at me because I haven't said anything about whether or not I want May and Bobbi here?"

Natasha simply stayed silent, raising an eyebrow in response, clearly waiting for an answer. One that Skye did not have yet, well, she did, but she didn't want to say it. She wanted them here, of course she did, but she was angry at them.

Skye sighed, shoulders slumping "Yeah, I want them here" she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck in discomfort.

Natasha nodded, as though she expected this answer. "Sit. On the floor and go through your breathing exercises that I know May ended up teaching you in Tai Chi"

Skye nodded, sitting down and automatically crossing her legs into a basket and focused on her breathing exercises. She could hear Natasha telling Maria to let Bobbi and May in.

Sharon was laughing "you know she was going to say she wanted them here?"

Natasha didn't reply, but Skye imagined she sent Sharon one of her famous smug smirks. Skye literally felt the air in the room change as Bobbi and May entered, if it wasn't for Natasha's patronizing "stay", she would have shoot up and ran to Bobbi, begging for forgiveness for even thinking about not wanting her here.

The air beside her swooshed a little as a body gracefully sat down next to hers, Skye instantly knew it was Bobbi and without a thought, she grabbed the other women's hand, ignoring the slight tension she could feel off of her.

"Right, now comes the fun part where you can't hold Bobbi's hand" Natasha started cheerfully, causing Skye to automatically let go of Bobbi's hand "you know have to be relax, mind clear by using your breathing techniques and basically imagine your bod shifting into a wolf body, don't worry about actually knowing what a wolf's body is like, your wolf will conjure a picture of a wolf for you, basically your instincts will take over once you start the process of just sitting and thinking" Natasha instructed, watching as Skye slowed her breathing down, her face relaxing along with her body as the process began.

They all watched in silence, Bobbi moving to stand with them as they watched Skye fall from her concious mind into the mind space of the wolf, it was always interesting to watch someone shift as their experience was written all over their face.

Natasha looked over at May, the women was watching Skye was a small smile of affection, one that was reserved for mothers and there was no doubt in Natasha's mind that Melinda was, in essence, Skye's mother. The two of them unconsciously mimic each other's actions, they argue like a parent would with their child and then could sit and watch a movie. It was weird, Natasha did not view Skye as her child like her mate did, of course, she felt the primal urge to protect the girl and keep her happy but there was always the underlying need to constantly assert her dominance over the girl, watching and waiting to see if she were to step out of line. There was still many things they did not know about Skye and the fact that she easily left her old life behind and has not tried to contact anyone from her old life was extremely suspicious to herself and Maria.

Maria insists the girl is just lost and needs a lot more guidance than the others in the pack, something that she was coming round to, and that the girl would not betray them. Natasha didn't doubt that Skye would betray them, the fact that she was in the pack would physically prevent her from betraying them without intense pain, she just thought that she was a kid who made a lot of bad mistakes that need fixed, but no one was sure what the mistakes were. Which was part of the problem.

The girl was complicated, Natasha just decided to leave it at that.

A slight change in Skye's face and a shift in her posture alerted them to the fact that the change was happening. Everything seemed still for a moment, before Skye suddenly lurched forward onto all fours with a gasp. A cry of pain falling from her lips as her body began to shift and change in size. Natasha gently grabbed Bobbi's wrists and held her back from touching Skye as they watched her writher on the floor in pain as the change came about. The girl kept letting out small cries of pains, whimpers falling through her lips.

Then silence. Natasha lips twitched, resisting the urge to smile. She had forgotten how small they were when the shifted for the first time.

"Ohmygod, she's tiny" Sharon squealed, moving forward to crouch down in front of the tiny wolf that was Skye, who was no bigger than a German Shepard puppy. How adorable.

In front of them, was a small wolf with brown fur and with a white patch of fur circling her left eye and at the tip of her nose. The small pup barked out in annoyance, standing and examining her body. Natasha just let out a little laugh, Skye was adorable.

Skye was not amused, no one told her she was going to be this small. She imagined herself much taller, her head in line with everyone's shoulders, at least. She grumbled, which just came out as tiny growls and yelps, as she tried to look at her body. From what she could see, she had a lovely chestnut shade of fur and was at the height of everyone's shins. One thing that was bringing Skye some happiness was that she had a tail. It was cool, she thought, she tried to get a look at her tail to only realise that it looked like she was chasing her tail and she could hear the roar of laughters from the others. Skye winced at the loud laughing, only just noticing the subtle changes in her hearing. She knew that she would experience a change in hearing, she had used in whilst she was still human, it seemed much more intense then than now.

Skye let out a small whine as she dropped her body in front of Bobbi's feet, looking up at her mates face and put on the best puppy eyes that she could muster.

_Please._

Bobbi seemed to understand what Skye wanted, she took a few steps back and her body shifted effortlessly and painlessly into a stunning white wolf with intimidating golden eyes. Skye just gaped at the women, her thoughts and feelings soaring through her mind and Skye understood.

She understood why Bobbi was having sex with May and Coulson, she understood why Bobbi was avoiding her and avoiding contact with her. Skye moved forward with a whine, gently pushing her body against Bobbi's leg, trying to comfort her mate.

"_I'm sorry"_ she tried to think to Bobbi, hoping she understood what she was saying.

"_You don't have to be sorry Skye, I should have explained what was going on" _Bobbi replied, causing Skye to jump in shock, pulling herself back to look at Bobbi, who was staring down at her with what could only be described as a wolfish grin _"what did you just think we barked at each other? We have to have a proper way to communicate in our wolf form and so we have this lovely mental link."_

"_This is becoming more and more like Twilight"_ Skye thought to Bobbi, causing the women to laugh and move forward. Bobbi ducked her head down and gently nuzzled the smaller wolf, purring softly.

"_Purring? Seriously? Wolves can't purr, I'm pretty sure" _Skye thought distractedly as Bobbi continued to nuzzle her. Skye ended up falling over as she offered no resistance to Bobbi and as she continued to push her face against Skye's entire body. Bobbi lay down next to Skye and easily pulled the pup close to her body and laid a paw lazily on her body and nestled against her.

"_You should nap, you'll feel the exhaustion of shifting soon enough, plus Natasha is going to get everyone to shift whilst you are sleeping that your brain will unconsciously take all the information in and prevent you from having one hell of a headache."_ Bobbi said, trying to lull Skye into a sleep.

"_But-"_ Skye protested

Bobbi simply put a paw over Skye's eyes _"sleep"_

Skye continued to grumbled to the amusement of everyone in the room until her growls turned sleepier and weaker until the stopped completely and all that was left was Skye's gentle breathing, softly blowing against Bobbi's fur. Skye's last thought was of how nice Bobbi's weird purring was.

"You've been purring for a while there Bobbi" Sharon commented with a knowing grin. Bobbi level a look at her and increased the volume of her purr's. "Bobbi the purring wolf" Sharon joked, pulling Maria close to her as she laughed.

Maria rolled her eyes and twisted out of Sharon's grasp "You purr as well, we all do" she reminded her mate.

"Yeah but this is the first time I've heard Bobbi purr in a long time, besides just because I purr as well doesn't mean I'm not going to mock her for it" Sharon explained.

Maria just rolled her eyes again at her mate, and shifted into her wolf form and settled down near Bobbi and Skye, letting out a purr. Sharon laughed and easily fell to the ground, shifting as she done so and curled around Maria, who in response, got up and curled around Sharon, resting her snout on top of her back and looked on innocently at the others in the room as Sharon shifted and grumbled under her.

Natasha chuckled and pull Melinda in for a kiss, not for any particular reason, just to be close. She lets out a breath of air and rests her forehead against Melinda's. May hummed from where she was and pulled Natasha close, softly kissing at her neck as Natasha moved her head to allow May more freedom to roam.

"This." Natasha gasped "This is what life is worth living for, loving neck kisses from my wife" she teased, pulling back from Melinda and placing another soft kiss on her lips.

"We should shift" May mumbled, closing her eyes, simply enjoying the moment she was having with Natasha.

"We should" Natasha agreed.

Neither of them moved, causing a small throaty laugh from the both of them as they stepped back, finally letting go of each other as they shifted. May walked easily over to where Bobbi and Skye were and lay down next to them, her paws resting easily against Skye's small body. Natasha lay behind her, squashed happily between Melinda and Sharon. May let out a content purr that was automatically echoed by everyone else, even Skye let out a small breath of air in her sleep, agreeing with May: this was one of the best feelings in the world.


	9. The Miles Lydon Incident

Operation Shadows

Chapter 9

Melinda sat in Coulsons' office, nursing a glass of whiskey as she waited for him to come back. She needed to have a talk with him, one that always kept getting pushed back as more important issues came up; most of them to do with Skye, not that this was Skye's fault. There was a hesitancy in the pack, especially Tori's pack, to accept her and it was causing a lot of trust issues. While Skye did not know exactly what was going on, she knew something was happening, especially now, thanks to the bond that they all shared.

However, this talk was extremely important and it could not be put off. Despite the fact that May seemed okay with Coulson and his actions, or rather, that is what it must look like to Coulson when May came to him to help deal with the effects of the Berserker Staff and not reprimand him for what she knew.

The door opened quietly as Coulson walked in, he carelessly flung some files onto a stand near before turning around and giving her a startled smile. May frowned at him, the re-growing bond between them was making it hard for May to yell at him for what he has done, she knew that it needed done and she was not going to back down form it.

"Hello Melinda, fancy seeing you here" he greeted her, sitting down as his desk.

"I know what you did, Coulson" May simply said, staring at him, making him feel slightly uncomfortable. There were many things he had done, which one was she referring to?

"And what would that be?" He asked, putting on his best innocent smile.

"Don't act innocent, Coulson. You got Ward to spy on Skye for you, and now, Ward is the one in trouble, for the spying and for his treatment of Skye. His treatment of Skye will warrant him to do a course in being an S.O, which he has almost completed, and he will be allowed back on this plane but he will not be allowed to tutor Skye in anyway. Now that seems reasonable, well, to the higher up anyways, however, he is taking the fall for something you told him to do, something he couldn't exactly refuse to do and you are going to tell Hill, or else." she threatened him, it ached her heart a little to be like this with him, but it was necessary, it was wrong to let Ward be punished for something that was Coulson's fault.

Coulson faced harden as May spoke "Well are you going to tell me what you did to Skye then, because whatever you did to her, it changed her drastically, she needs someone in her corner." he retorted

May paused. She, like the others, had simply thought that Coulson was doing this to simply find out what was going to happen to Skye because he liked to knew everything that was going on, not because he wanted to protect and watch out for Skye. It made her want to smile, she found it weird that Coulson had taken on Skye and then do an almost 180 on her and treat her like a level 1 agent. Still, it did not excuse his behaviour towards Skye.

"Trust me on this Coulson, what happened to Skye, it wasn't a bad thing...it may have changed her, but she is okay. Ask her yourself, she's happier than she was when she first came on this plane." May said gently, leaning forward.

Coulson sighed and leaned back in his chair, he loosened his tie as he regarded May. Skye had been acting different from when she first came on the plane and Coulson wouldn't have described her behaviour as happy, she seemed vulnerable and clingy and a lot of the time, refused to leave May's side. Lately, however, she did seem happier, even more so when Bobbi joined their team, the two of them being soul-mates came as a surprise to everyone but he was happy that Skye found the person she was meant to be with. He's not had a lot of time to sit down and have a talk with Skye, too see if she was okay with all these changes...maybe he should do that soon. He cared for Skye, he really did, even if his actions seemed to be telling another story.

"She definitely happy?" he questioned.

May nodded "especially since Bobbi came on board, honestly I don't know how she will cope when Bobbi has to leave the team. The two of them are joined by the hip at the moment." May sighed, looking a little defeated. Obviously this is something she had considered a great deal, Coulson noticed.

He stood up and walked silently over to join May on the couch and cautiously brought her into his arms. May relaxed easily against him, almost humming in happiness at the contact.

"I'm sure she will be fine, she has you looking out for her" he said, talking quietly into her ear, hoping that this would reassure her.

May simply hummed in response, her hand gently resting on his knee, apparently content just to sit in silence with him. Oh, he knew he was in trouble, no doubt, but May needed the contact just as much as he did. The itch had become unbearable, but as the trained agents they were, they had been able to resist it until now. He closed his eyes, shifting their position so that he could rest his head on her shoulder. May took to the new position straight away and was easily holding him against her as he sighed, breathing out easily as he rested. He could just fall asleep right here, if only there weren't en route to their mission location.

They had been given orders to investigate a super powered human, Chan Ho Yin. S.H.I.E.L.D have already ran into this man and placed him on their index list, but apparently he was missing and the base sent Coulson and his time to deal with the situation. It had turned out that the Rising Tide had located him and released the information. It was almost time to debrief the team. He was slightly hesitant with the Rising Tide information, given Skye's history with them. It may complicate the mission.

May hummed a little and kiss the top of his head, tightening her arms around him. Coulson sighed in response, he knew he had to get up. He was reluctant to move, it wasn't often that May was this soft and open with him and he wanted to cherish the moment a little longer. However, it seemed like May finally noticed the time and slowly began to move away from him, her hand running softly up and down his arm.

"You'll talk to Skye after the mission?" she asked

Coulson simply nodded in response "Time to debrief the team"

* * *

Currently, Coulson, Bobbi and Skye were en route to a cafe in Austin, Texas. They were looking to find a man named Miles Lydon, who they had found on the cafe's security feed, they believed him to be the man who was responsible for leaking Chan's whereabouts.

Skye's knee was shaking nervously, she hasn't told anyone on the team that she knew who Miles was, or that she had sent him a text about their arrival. He was the only connection to her past life and she was unwilling to let him, not without a proper goodbye at least. The two of them had been lovers in the passing, until they had found their soul-mates. He was also the man who introduced her into the Rising Tide, he originally said that he could teach her more about hacking, but quickly found that Skye's skills were far superior to his own (and apparently, his better than anyone at S.H.I.E.L.D, they needed to work on their hacking skills, it was pathetic honestly).

She glanced at Bobbi, who smiled and softly kissed the side of her temple. Skye smiled, automatically resting her head against Bobbi's shoulder. She should tell her, she should. They were mates and this was an old lover – who still thought they were lovers – they were dealing with. She was hesitant, she was in a bad place when she met Miles, a very, very bad place and she didn't want the team, the pack, to realise how fucked up she had been.

The car lulled to a stop, Coulson turned to the two lovers in the back with a smile, he had been a lot more kinder and understanding lately, Skye had noticed. It was a nice change, it was nice to see the man that he was like when she was first recruited to the team.

"Alright then, Morse, you'll go in through the front and get him, Skye, you'll take the back and I'll stay here in case he makes a run for it, understood?"

"Yes sir" the two of them responded, climbing out the car to take their positions. Bobbi gave Skye a quick kiss before taking her position. Skye went round the back, looking around nervously, before taking off.

She ran the few blocks to get to Miles house, she knew that he would be able to escape her team mates easily as they had underestimated Miles. She pulled out his spare key from under a hidden compartment within the wall next to his door.

Entering the apartment, she was hit by old smells that used to bring her such reassurance. She inhaled deeply and wrapped her arms around herself and bit her lip anxiously. This room held so many memories, so many feelings. The smell was still comforting, but it wasn't the same, probably because she met Bobbi and only Bobbi would make her feel this comforted and safe.

She glanced at the table and winced. Needles lay scattered on the table, empty bottles of beer and white powered accompanied them. He was still using. Her heart clenched a little, she remembered the time when this was her life, it was an awful period of her life, one that she never wished to return to, one that Miles should have never returned to.

Without hesitation, Skye went into the kitchen and grabbed a bin bag and began to throw everything into it, anger and concern motivating her actions. She shoved it all in, hesitating slightly, this stuff must have cost him a fortune, where exactly did he get the money? She knew Miles would not be able to buy all this stuff plus keep up the rent of this apartment. Something wasn't right.

The door opened with a bang, followed by an aggressive, loud "what the fuck do you think you're doing Skye?!" Miles thundered, he body tense, eye's bloodshot as he glared at her.

"What am I doing? What the FUCK are you doing Miles? I thought you got off this crap! We got through this together, and where the heck did you get the money for this?" Skye snapped at him, holding up the bag filled with the drugs, shaking it in his face.

Miles lunged for the bag, but Skye quickly pulled it out the way, flinging it across the room. She grabbed him and flung him onto the near by bed. She sat on him easily, pinning him down, breathing heavily. She could feel the anger coursing through her body, it felt like she was shaking and thought she heard a distant howl in the back of her mind. No, no, no. She can not change her. She forced herself to calm down, taking deep breaths and thinking of Bobbi. She fell to the side of Miles, just lying on her bed. Miles lay silently next to her.

"I'm sorry" He said quietly, taking her hand in his.

"No you aren't. If you regretted your actions, you wouldn't have got back on it, we've been clean for three years Miles. Besides, where did you get the money from?" She questioned, taking her hand back abruptly.

He rolled on his side to look at her "Some rich girl in a flow dress, don't worry I checked her background, she works in some eco-friendly lab researching centipedes, anyway, she wanted the location of this guy that S.H.I.E.L.D was hiding. She offered me a million dollars, Skye, how cool is that? I took the deal, thought we could start a new life somewhere once you get what you need from S.H.I.E.L.D" He explained excitedly, pulling her to lie on top of him, he let his hands rest on her ass as he grinned up at her.

Skye struggled to get out of grasp "Miles, first, I said S.H.I.E.L.D was off limits whilst I'm there, besides, you're acting like they are bad people, they aren't, they are just doing what they need to do to keep the world safe. Secondly, Miles...we're over. I've met my soul-mate" She said, defending her team as she rolled off him, sitting up on the bed, facing away from him.

Miles sat up behind her, a frown on his face. He moved to sit behind her, pulling him against her, he gripped the bottom of her top and easily pulled it over her head and flung it away from her.

"Then we should do it, once more, just, just to remember what we had" He said, pushing he down against the bed.

Skye pushed against his chest "No Miles! I have a soul-mate, I'm not about to cheat on her with you!" she said firmly, moving away from him.

"Skye, please, come back to bed" Miles begged

Skye grabbed her t-shirt off the floor, glaring at him "No, I have to get back to my team"she said, opening the door.

"You're just using them!" He snapped at her

She swivelled around to face him, snarling "No I'm not!" She turned back to the door and froze.

May stood impassively, staring at her, the team standing behind her, looking at her in shock. Shit. Skye looked at her shirt, then looked at the shirtless Miles, then at May and realised what this must look like to the team.

"This isn't what it looks like, I swear" Skye begged

"Get dressed" was May's response, Skye winced and did as she was told. She felt Coulson grip her wrist and pull them together, her head hung in shame as she realised that Coulson was cuffing her. He began to lead her away as May cuffed Miles, they passed Fitz and Simmons who were staring at her in shock, they passed Bobbi who was staring at her with curiosity.

Skye met Bobbi's eyes, pleading with her mate silently to believe. There was a pause before Bobbi nodded, smiling lightly and Skye sighed with relief, so long as Bobbi believed her, she didn't care if anyone else did.

Coulson had put her and Miles in the cage together, cuffed to the table, after he had finished interrogating Miles. Now she was just waiting for someone to talk to her.

Skye refused to look at him, this was all his fault, the dick couldn't take no for an answer and now the team thought she had slept with him. How could they think she would sleep with him, the target? Albeit she did send him a warning text, but that was different, she owed him one, now she owed him nothing. The lying scumbag sold himself out, selling information for money was just plain wrong and went against everything the Rising Tide stood for, Miles had been the one to tell her that.

"So..." Miles started, lifting his hands up and dropping them dramatically on the table, he gave her his charming, mischievous, boy smile, as if that somehow made it all better.

"Don't" she warned him. She was in no mood to talk to him, she just wanted to make sure her pack understood that she wasn't betraying them, just settling a debt. Miles had been the one to help her through her problems, but somehow had fallen back into them himself.

The silence engulfed them, she stared at the handcuffs, knowing that she could easily break them, but she wouldn't. She would prove that she belonged here. Minutes passed, then hours, and Skye wondered where they were. Did they continue the mission of the missing person? Probably. They wouldn't tell her, she supposed, since she was technically in custody. She sighed and slumped down against the seat that she had been sitting in for ages, it was extremely uncomfortable, probably made that way purposely to annoy people in custody, well, at least it worked.

She leaned her head down on the table, wanting nothing more than to see Bobbi, the two of them still had things to sort out, like how she dealt with the effects of the Berserker staff. Cuddling and talking out problem, Skye would say that they had a great, healthy relationship, or at least they were on their way to having one. Miles was muttering to himself in the background, probably detoxing already.

Skye wondered if the team knew about that as well, the drugs. She put all of it in the bin but she couldn't be sure that they didn't go through that, sometimes S.H.I.E.L.D was just that thorough. She told them in the passing that she had been through a rough period in life (if Skye were honest with people, she would describe her life as a constant rough patch) and wondered if they would make the connection. She hope they wouldn't.

Mile small mutterings became more and more agitated as her began pulling on the cuffs angrily, pulling them tightly in a vain attempt to release his hands. It wasn't long before he was shouting to be released and that they got him out of these cuffs. He was kicking out in anger, hands slamming down on the table.

Skye just stared at him tiredly, she couldn't be bothered with him. She felt like she should be sympathetic towards him, she understood how he felt, what he was going through but she just didn't.

The door opened suddenly and May appeared. She walked over to Skye calmly and unlocked her cuffs and pulled her up and out the cage and closed the door calmly, leaving the raging Miles behind. She led Skye up to Coulson's office, on the way they passed Bobbi and without thought, Skye grabbed her arm and pulled Bobbi along with them until the reached Coulson's door. May paused and looked at Bobbi.

"She can't come in." was all she said.

Bobbi surged forward and grabbed Skye, pulling her close. Bobbi rubbed Skye's back and placed small kisses all over her face before nuzzling Skye's neck, a small, content sigh escaping her lips. Skye was frozen in shock, she did not expect this reaction from Bobbi, or that May would let her do this. Skye gripped Bobbi back, resting her cheek against the side of Bobbi's head.

"Right, lets go, Coulson expecting Skye" May said softly, taking Skye from Bobbi's arms.

Bobbi gave Skye one last, lingering kiss before walking away with a small smile. Skye sighed, watching her leave, wishing she was going with Bobbi rather than going to talk to Coulson.

May knocked lightly before pushing the door open and gently pushed Skye in. She nodded once to Coulson before leaving, causing Skye to turn in surprise.

"Isn't May staying? She's my S.O" Skye asked.

"She's also off duty. Sit" Coulson commanded. Skye obediently sat in the chair and stared at Coulson, waiting for the punishment, waiting for him to kick her off the team. Coulson sighed, before pulling a box out from his desk and placing in front of her. "Open it" he ordered.

Skye did as she was told and opened the box to reveal a silver bracelet, with the word "S.H.I.E.L.D" engraved on it. She looked up at him questioningly.

"I talked to the team, and the reassured me that you wouldn't betray us like that, of course Bobbi would say that but May also vouched for you. I trust May's judgement and May believe that we misread the situation. Now Skye, why did you text him, warning him about our arrival?" Coulson questioned.

Skye blinked in surprised, she thought that the team believed that she betrayed them, sold them out. They didn't, they trusted Skye, the believed in her and that make her heart swell with happiness.

"I owed him one. I wasn't sure how to, how to return the favour. When I met Miles, the two of us had been in a really bad place, he helped me through it, gave me a purpose by introducing me to the Rising Tide, made me feel like I was making a difference in the world, that I wasn't just some sad little orphan with no purpose in the world." Skye explained, looking at her feet, feeling very much like she was back in the orphanage, getting into trouble.

Coulson hummed at her explanation. He contemplating what Skye said, he had no reason to believe that she was lying about what she said, but she was lying about something.

"I believe you Skye" he said softly, Skye looked up at him in shock, he was smiling lightly at her "however, you have been lying to this team since day one. Why are you here Skye? You told us when we picked you about Mike Peterson, that you intentionally got yourself caught, and it wasn't so that we would leave him alone or to get information on centipede. So why did you get yourself caught?" he asked.

Skye looked at her hands briefly, before reaching into her bra and pulling out a USB, and handed it over to him. He stared at it in shock.

"What is that" he asked, an edge of hardness to his tone.

"Everything on me." she whispered back " I came to S.H.I.E.L.D because I was looking for my parents. I was researching everything I could about them and then I came across this file, a redacted file about how I was dropped off at the orphanage by a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. I thought that if I found out who it was...I'd find my parents" she explained quietly, not quite willing to meet his eyes.

"Oh Skye..." he whispered back to her, resisting to take her into his arms and hold her tight until all the pain disappeared. He almost regretted what he was about to do, but it was a precautionary action. "Hey, listen to me, I want you to do my favour... see that bracelet? It restricts you from using technology like a laptop or a phone for the first two days and then after that, it monitors everything you do and will shut down whatever you are using if it is considered to be breaking the rules. I want you to wear it for two weeks. To prove to me and every other S.H.I.E.L.D agent that dares to question you that you are loyal to us, that you care about your future in S.H.I.E.L.D. Can you do that for me, Skye?" he asked gently, watching her reaction.

Skye stared at him in shock, but she realised that Coulson was taking a big risk by letting her stay on this team. She looked up at him with determination and put the bracelet on "Yeah, I can do that AC" she said, using his nickname to show that she wasn't upset with him.

Coulson smiled and got out of his chair "Lets go downstairs and relax with the team, it's been some hell of a day" He joked.

Skye laughed shakily and followed Coulson out his office. Before they reached the stairs, Coulson pulled her into a hug, holding her tight. Skye blinked in surprise before hugging him back tightly.

"I'm proud of you" he whispered to her, pulling back with a smile. Skye smiled back at him, trying to hold the tears back. It had been a long time since someone told her that they were proud of her. It felt nice, really nice and she wanted to continue making Coulson proud, him and May.

"Whats, whats going to happen to Miles?" Skye asked nervously.

Coulson smirked a little "Well, before we all relax properly, we're putting the monitoring bracelet on him and dropping him off here"

"In China?" Skye gasped, a smirk slowly finding its way to her face

"In China. May told me that she heard him not understanding the word 'no'" He explained, chuckling lightly as he flung an arm around her shoulders. "Also, I have a surprise for you"

"Yeah?"

"Well Fury thought it was time that we reveal to the Avengers that I'm alive, so our next stop in New York. We're going to the Avengers tower" Coulson reveal with a smile, laughing as Skye's eyes widened.

"No way!" she exclaimed "That is so cool and so horrible! How could you put this bracelet on me! I want to challenge Tony Stark to a hack off! Awww this is so cool and so unfair at the same time" she rambled, walking backwards toward the team.

Coulson laughed and shook his head at Skye's antics as she reached the team and began to discuss it with them, Fitz and Simmons getting as worked up as Skye about meeting Tony Stark. Bobbi was shaking her head at them as she pulled Skye to sit down on her lap as the four of them entered a discussion about the Avengers. Coulson sat on one of the couched, content to simply listen to his team talk excitedly about their latest trip.


	10. Was That a Command?

A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys, had massive writers block but here is a long ass chapter to make up for it! Please go read my new story which helped pull me out my writers block; Two Sides of the Same Coin.

Enjoy!

Operation Shadows

Chapter 10

Most of the team were in their bunks, sleeping soundlessly. May was up in the cockpit, supervising the flight to New York and Bobbi and Skye were curled up in Bobbi's bunk. Bobbi's head was resting on Skye chest as she held her mate tightly in her arms, slowly trailing her fingers up and down her arm. Skye had one arm resting lightly on Bobbi's and was using the other to run her hand softly through Bobbi's hair.

The two of them were lying on the bed, in content, waiting for the conversation to start. Skye had wanted to talk to Bobbi, but due to the recent lack of contact, they ended up just lying, tangled, together. She felt like she never wanted to talk about the issues that they've been having, wanting to just sweep it under the rug but it was impossible, it was constantly irritating her that Bobbi had slept with May and Coulson, the two adults that Skye trusted in her life to look after her, emotionally and/or physically. It had really felt like Bobbi slept with her parents and that was something Skye really did not want to think about, never mind talk about.

Bobbi was resting silently on Skye's chest, content to just listen to the other women's heartbeat. Skye had came to her, wanting to talk but the need to touch her had been overwhelming and the two of them ended up lying together on Bobbi's very small bed. She could hazard a guess as to what Skye wanted to talk about; the distrust that seems to be going on between the pack and Skye or the fact that she slept with May and Coulson when she hadn't even slept with Skye yet. Probably both, now that she thought about it. Skye would probably want to talk about the trust thing with her first, before she even went and talked to Natasha or May about it. If she was even planning on talking to them about it at all. Because if she wasn't going to, Bobbi was. Everyone in the pack was treating Skye like an outsider, and Bobbi knows she messed up when she sought comfort in Melinda instead of her own mate and, whilst her intentions were good, she still hurt Skye. A lot.

The first time that she was really aware of how much Skye was a part of this pack was just after she first joined, the nightmares had gone through the barely developed mental link and hit Bobbi full force and she lay there sharing the nightmares with the girl, it was probably the first hint that the two of them were going to be mates, but when it originally happen she had no idea and had simply vowed to protect the young wolf no matter what, of course that was still the idea but now there was more too it, they were mates.

Bobbi waited, deciding that it was best to let Skye talk first, to let it out of her system and let Bobbi know exactly what was going through her head. She could always check whenever they shifted, but she would rather use this as a show of trust, trust that her mate would confide in her whenever she messed up.

Skye gentle tugged on Bobbi's blonde locks, causing the older women to look up at the young wolf. Skye looked at her, her lips pursed in slight confusion, clearly trying to think of the best way to start the conversation.

"Maybe you should sit up" Skye suggested quietly, moving away from her to sit against the wall. Bobbi nodded and followed her example and sat at the end of the bed, holding a pillow in her lap as she waited for Skye to start.

Skye hesitated before opening her mouth "We need to talk...about...about the fact that you slept with May and Coulson. I feel as though if this was anyone else, I'd be a bit less, a bit...less irritated, I guess? I just, you went to them for comfort, not even just a hug or to talk or whatever, you went and used sex as a form of comfort and confided in them and you, well, it felt like you hated me. It felt like every motion or every time I spoke, it felt like I was just irritating you and that by being near you, I was making it worse. I felt really shit, really low and I, and I haven't felt like that in a long time Bobbi, it was a feeling I thought I had gotten rid of, to never feel like that again, yet...my own mate caused me to feel like that and I'm not sure how I feel about that, I'm at the point where I genuinely don't know if I actually want to be near you or if it's just the bond causing those feelings" Skye admitted quietly, looking down and mirror Bobbi's position and fidgeted with the edges of the pillow in her lap.

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth anxiously and pulled the pillow up close towards her face, resisting the urge to just bury her face there and not look at Bobbi. She was scared as to how her mate would react to her feelings, to the fact that Skye wasn't sure if they were even a good match anymore.

Bobbi felt her heart break as she watched Skye seemingly fight the urge to hide herself form her, it hurt to think that Skye was unsure if she still wanted to romantically be with Bobbi, but it hurt more seeing her withdraw away from her, as if Bobbi was about to hurt her physically for what she said.

Bobbi had not felt this guilty in her entire life, not after her first kill, not after lying to her family about what she was doing with her life and how she barely had contact with them, not when she nearly kill the other recruit in a brutal hand-to-hand training session. It literally felt like her heart was tearing in two as her mate revealed how she felt and Bobbi had caused of if it. It didn't take much imagination to figure how low exactly Skye felt and Bobbi wanted to hurt herself for causing the girl so much pain. She resisted the urge to reach out and comfort Skye, she know that would probably either make thing worse or just not cause anything to get resolved. Bobbi tried to think of the right words to say, clearly a "sorry" would not instantly fix or sooth the pain that her actions caused. She had to prove to Skye just exactly how much she meant to Bobbi.

"I know what I did was wrong...I should have gone to you, I know that. I was just worried that, the anger I felt... that I would have wanted to use sex as an outlet and I didn't want to hurt you, to have you feel used like that. I thought that by having sex with May that I would be able to let out that anger safely, mutually without hurting you, then of course May brought Coulson in...apparently the staff brought back some memories but she still let me have sex with her then him, right off topic. I'm sorry Skye and I know that no amount of apologising will ever make up for what I did, so let me show you. Let me pamper you, meet your every need, treat you like a princess. Let me show you how much you mean to me and how no one can ever stand in your place. Let me show you that we can be a good match, we can start over, start platonically, whatever you need." Bobbi finished, grabbing Skye's hands at the end, pleading with her with all her might.

Skye sat in a slump as she listened to Bobbi. She understood completely and it made her feel worse for feeling the way she did. Bobbi had good intentions, but the outcome was just terrible and it would be hard to forgive her now that the feelings were out in the open. However, starting off as platonic soul mates sounded nice, she knew that many people start off as friends and try to put off the romantic part of their soulmate status for as long as they can and it helps strengthen their relationship, but she also knows that a lot of people just jump right into their relationship with their mate and their relationships turn out just as strong. It was merely down to character.

She felt Bobbi's eyes on her, waiting patiently for an answer that Skye was still deliberating on. On one hand, she has been enjoying intimate relationship that she has been having with Bobbi, and they would both feel the strain of change in their relationship but Skye was sure that they could cope easily with being platonic, although she wasn't sure what exactly would change, it's not like they've had sex yet, actually, Skye was sure the only thing they would stop doing was the fantastic make-out, groping, grinding, whatever you want to call it, sessions. Still, it would help a little if they could just pull back a bit.

"Alright" Skye finally said "We start over, no kissing, okay maybe cheek, no groping or anything like that. Just...friends... for now. Until things are better." Skye decided, glancing at Bobbi to see her reaction.

Bobbi smiled brightly, knowing that her immediate reaction would determine how exactly their new, tender relationship would go. She would have to show that she was excited for it, which she is, she's glad that Skye is not just ending everything and trying to stay away form her.

"Sounds fantastic" Bobbi said, only slightly lying. She resisted the urge to pull Skye into a hug, deciding it would be better to start with small touches and work her way back up. She gave the younger women's knee a squeeze for reassurance. Skye gave a watery smile back as she gently placed her hand over hers and gave a return squeeze and the two of them sat in silence, staring at each other as they began to fully understand the shift in their relationship.

It wasn't long until May woke everyone up in the morning, through the planes com's, telling them to prepare for landing. The team were landing at one of Stark's private airfields where they can leave the bus for the duration of their stay; which was apparently undetermined, according to Coulson. May had muttered in the passing that Coulson just wanted some time off whilst looking like he was doing work and this was the perfect opportunity to swindle at least two weeks of pretending to be hard at work and re-establishing S.H.I.E.L.D's relationship with the entire Avengers. Bobbi had thrown a smirk at the three younger agents as she told them to buckle up for a hell of a ride. Apparently Maria had been sent several times to try and "re-establish the relationship" only for Fury to phone and find her drunk off her ass, although she claimed many times that they did get work done and suspiciously, Fury would find piles of paperwork on the relationship on his desk the next morning.

Once they landed, Jemma became very antsy, unable to just stand still, which was very unusual for her. Fitz had taken it upon himself to try and ease his fellow scientist. Coulson was confused as to her behaviour before May leaned over and explained.

"You forgot that Clint is Jemma's mate, I don't think she's seen him in a few months"

"Oh." he stated and then proceeded to subtly speed the car up and before long they were riding up the lift towards the awaiting avengers.

"Sooo" Skye dragged "Do they know you're alive? Or are we going with the tactic of just appearing with that bottle of wine and going 'surprise! What do you know? I'm not dead!'" she questioned.

Coulson turned and gave her one of his dad smiles "Don't be ridiculous Skye, everyone knows except Thor, Rogers, Banner and Stark" he chuckled

The other agents snickers and May gave a twitch of her lips to show her amusement. Much like Simmons, May was very eager to meet up with Natasha, especially since they have Coulson back. It was going to be bliss. She placed her hand on his lower back, sliding it under his un-tucked shirt (this was him attempting to go casual) and enjoyed the slight hum the ran through her body. Coulson turned to smile at her and pulled her close.

"Coulson" She snapped, trying to pull away, she was still attempting to keep up a professional appearance in front of the other agents (despite them all knowing, but Coulson did not know so they all had to pretend that they did not know, when in actual fact they know quite a lot about what was going on between them.)

"Come on May, no need to be a stick in the mud. We all know what's going on between you two, you aren't exactly subtle. Messy hair, messy clothes and sneaking out of each others rooms like teenagers, sometimes with sex hair...kinda gross now that I think about it" Skye commented, scrunching up her nose at the thought of the two of them having sex.

"Skye" Coulson and May said simultaneously, frowning at her

"What?" She replied, looking innocent "it's true, and it also means that you can milk this not-a-vacation-but-totally-is thing that we are about to do, for all it's worth."

The two senior agents just sighed at the young women, before turning to face the doors of the lift as the quiet voice of JARVIS told them of their arrival at the floor.

"Here we go" Bobbi said, her hands twitching to grab Skye's. She looked at the other agents, Coulson looked positively ill before he schooled his faced as he caught Bobbi's eye "C'mon, it will be a laugh"

"I'm beginning to not like your definition of a laugh, Bobbi, you're starting to seem like someone who would sky dive without a parachute" Fitz commented.

Bobbi let out a hearty laugh as the doors opened, catching the attention of everyone inside. The team stepped out, following Coulson lead and had slightly sheepish expressions.

"Phil!" Pepper Potts sounded, a wide smile on her face as she walked briskly to meet them and quickly embraced the man, holding on tight to him. "It's good to see you alive and well" She joked as she pulled back, automatically taking the bottle of wine off of him.

"Good to see you too, it was a nightmare not being able to go on our monthly dinner dates" he teased back.

Pepper lead them all over to where the Avengers were sitting, most of them looking at them with their jaws slack as they couldn't believe what they are saying.

"Agent is alive. I don't believe it." Stark uttered, for once, speechless.

"You were dead" Steve stated quietly "we saw the photos; the cards...there was a hole in your chest"

Coulson gave Steve a tight smile "Mr Rogers, you'll soon come to learn that people at S.H.I.E.L.D don't tend to stay dead – too much paperwork to do to be dead" He joked, trying to lighten the mood between the two.

"Son of Coul!" Thor boomed, a knowing glint in his eye "It is good to see you alive again, my friend" he walked over and gave Phil a good thump on the back, causing his to stumble forward a bit with a tight smile.

The others snickered at Phil as he stumbled, quickly shutting up as he turned to frown at them. He coughed and straightened his jacket as he began to speak "I do believe introduction are in order; the two that are joint by the hip are Fitz and Simmons, then Skye, Bobbi and lastly May" he introduced.

"Fitz and Simmons also answer to FitzSimmons, Science Twins, nerds and a coupe of other geeky names." Skye teasingly added, throwing her hip against Simmons, who rolled her eyes in response.

"Nice to meet you all, I'm afraid to say we no longer ever need to introduce ourselves, it seems like everyone in the world knows us" Steve said, giving a false chuckle, obviously not comfortable with the idea of people knowing him before he knows them.

"Well, maybe _you_ don't Cap', but Barton and myself are assassins, spies, we've managed to keep our true identify away from everyone outside of S.H.I.E.L.D" Natasha drawled, lazily walking over with Clint toward the group.

His eyes were on Simmons as he walked along side Natasha, his fingers twitching to touch his mate. It has been far too long since the two of them have been together, he thinks the last time either of them had any time to themselves was that small moment when Skye will still receiving her wolf injections. That was months ago. He wondered if he could get Jemma and whisk her to his room without anyone noticing, well, anyone that isn't a spy. By now Natasha has probably realised what he wants to do and is no doubt mocking him in her head, he'll get all that later.

He didn't care if Natasha teased him about Jemma, she was the one who got cranky and whiney whenever she was separated from Mel too long, and Phil, but Mel and Natasha were long able to get over the feeling of Phil not being around. Clint saw Natasha pause between the two groups, standing subtly closer to Mel and Phil, she wore he usual "I- know-everything" smirk that she held around their new team, not quite comfortable with them just yet, maybe comfortable enough to show them who her mates were. Maybe.

Deciding that Natasha could deal with everything by herself, Clint continued to walk subtly over to where Simmons had moved from standing next to Fitz, to hiding behind the rest of the pack. She smiled brightly as soon as she saw him and began to briskly walk over to him, her heart thumping in her chest as she shoved herself in his arms, her hands sliding under his shirt, settling on his chest, right above his heart and the other on his lower back and pressed her face into the crook of his neck, letting him hold the two of them together, tightly.

He pressed his face into her hair, breathing in the smell of her usual coconut smelling shampoo. He missed this smell, the weird, yet oddly enticing, smell of coconut mixed with chemicals and burning wood. He wasn't sure how she managed that, all he knew was that it was his most favourite smell in the world. He was vaguely aware of Natasha telling the others to "ignore the hormonal teenagers".

He moved his head back and gently titled her head up to meet his eyes. He smiled kindly at her, his face relaxed as he took in his mate. The constant, irritating hum that was under his skin was now humming in content, almost purring with every touch; it was pure bliss.

"Hey" he murmured, pressing their foreheads together "missed you"

Jemma chuckled lightly as she moved her hands to link together behind his neck "missed you too, eye of the hawk" she teased, threading her fingers into his hair, gently scrapping them at the bottom of his hair line. He let out a groan of appreciation and the two of them stood for several moments, basking in each others presence.

Jemma leaned up slightly and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, lingering only slightly to remind him what was to come later, in a more private setting. She could feel the eyes of the other occupants on her and she wanted to blush and duck her head, but she resisted the urge, instead she turned to face the others, never leaving Clint's grasp, and smiled politely at them, tightly gripping Clint around the waist, a sure sign that she was not going to leave his side for the remainder of their stay here.

"Alright then" Stark said "who knew the bird guy had a girlfriend"

"Wife, actually. She's my wife" He corrected him, grinning, pulling out a chain with a ring on it as Jemma copied his movements, looking a little sheepish. No one knew they got married, but apparently now was a good time to tell people. She really needed to work with him on what to share and what not to sure.

"What" was Skye response, her mouth open in shock "you're married and you never told me? I demand that you have a fake ceremony just so I can be a bridesmaid. I was counting on you to make me your bridesmaid at your wedding, why do you think I've been getting so close to you?" Skye teased, walking over to her friend and hugging her.

Simmons laughed at Skye's reaction and hugged her friend tightly "I'm sorry, we got married right before I joined Coulson's team; Clint was worried, mainly because for once it would be me that would be constantly away and occasionally visiting whilst he stayed at home, instead of the other way around" she joked, smiling lightly at Clint, who had the decency to look sheepish. He flashed her one of his famous grins in apology. She shook her head, smiling fondly, her eyes bright with happiness.

Skye studied her friends behaviour, she had never seen Simmons like this before, it was like a different person standing in front of her, it was amazing. Before Simmons always came across as shy, yet blunt due to her scientific nature, always research before anything else, yet here she was standing in front of her, looking at Clint as though she would give up everything she had, jus to be with him. Simmons held so much love for Clint.

"It must be hard" Skye thought aloud

"hm?" Simmons hummed, looking at Skye curiously, not quite understanding what she was going on about.

"It must be hard – not being able to be with Clint all the time, going months without seeing him, it must be difficult" she commented, not sure how she would feel if Bobbi to leave, despite the fact that they were just simply friends at the moment, they still felt the pull of the bond, the hum under their skins that begged to them to touch each, that screamed in anger whenever they were separated too long. She wondered how Simmons, and Clint, dealt with that.

Clint and Jemma smiled at Skye, both seeing her as the younger sister, much like the rest of the pack, and sadly knew that she would soon experience the long separation periods between Bobbi and herself. No one in the pack wanted anyone to actually experience it, but because of who they worked for, it was inevitable.

"It is difficult" Simmons admitted "especially at first. The first time I was separated from Clint, I was an utter wreck, I couldn't even do my work. I just stayed in bed for as long as Fitz and May let me" she finished with a chuckle.

"It does get easier, by the 3rd or 4th time I had to go on a long haul mission, it was a breeze. Well, now that that is answered, I'll leave you to re-kindle your relationship with the Avengers, Coulson. I'm away to re-kindle my relationship with Jemma. See you all tomorrow" he finished with a wink and a mischievous smirk. He quickly picked Jemma up bridal style and swopped in the elevator.

"Congrats on the sex!" Skye called after them, grinning as she hear Simmons yell her name in embarrassment.

"Skye" May reprimanded, a small smile on her lips causing it to loose its effect.

"I have no words" Steve muttered as he walked over to the bar, to pour himself a useless drink. Despite being unable to get drunk, he continues to do it anyway, just for the familiar burning feeling in the back of his throat, the familiar feelings that soothed many of his sorrows.

"Well Legolas is correct, we do have to sort things out, mainly the fact that you are alive and that everyone bar Rogers, Banner and myself, knew that" Stark bit out, joining Steve at the bar.

"To be fair, Pepper only found out about a week ago, right Pep?" Coulson said, looking over at his CEO friend.

"You still haven't earned the right to call me Pep, that's another three dinner dates away" she chastised him, walking over to embrace him in a friendly hug again, not quite believing that he was alive.

"Oh. My bad. I'll be sure to schedule them right away" he teased, going along with the joke.

"It's good to see you, nevertheless, and your cellist." She added, turning to May with a smile.

Skye glanced at May "you play the cello?" she questioned.

"Occasionally" May replied, facing Pepper and introducing herself with a small smile.

Skye blinked and turned away from the situation, she had no need to re-kindle a relationship with the Avengers, that was all Phil's thing, she was just along for the ride. Now, to make this experience so much more fun, she had to figure out a way of getting this damn nanny bracelet off. She could trick Stark into getting it off, or she could charm Bobbi into getting it off. Either way, this damn thing was coming off before the end of the week, no way was she going to waste one precious week of potential hacking and snooping in the Avengers tower.

But for now, she was going to just settle for snooping. She could always go interrupt Jemma and Clint, that would be a laugh. She was pretty sure she could hear them the now, just faintly, though if she were to put in actual effort into using her enhanced hearing, she was positive she would hear _everything_. Whilst that would be hot (and slightly weird, they were fast on their way to becoming her honoury siblings) ...it would also leave her very flustered with no way of treating it, at least not in a strangers home.

Letting out a small groan of annoyance, she walked away from the group slowly, looking around the room and getting ideas of where she should go exploring first.

"And where do you think you're going off to, young one?" came a soft, seductive voice, right at her ear, making her shudder.

"Natasha. It's very rude to use that voice, you know how it gets to us" Skye replied, turning to look at her smirking alpha. "besides, shouldn't you be keeping up the illusion of needing to re-kindle your relationship with Coulson?" she questioned.

"Well" Natasha drawled, grabbing Skye's arm and began leading her away "if you were paying attention, you would have known that we are going with the idea that Barton and myself already knew. So I'll be avoiding the men of the group for a while, so that they can blow of steam about not knowing about Coulson, to the man himself"

"Where are we going?" Skye asked, resisting the urge to pull away from Natasha.

"To talk" she replied simply "preferably somewhere where we can't hear Barton and Simmons going at it like a pair of rabbits"

"Good idea, as much as I find Clint and Jemma hot, hearing them have sex is something I want to avoid right now...I think I can faintly hear them the now. Gross" Skye shuddered, she was pretty sure she could hear the wet sounds, not that sex repulsed her, sometimes the sounds made her either burst out laughing or cringe.

Natasha casted her a weird look "you can hear them?" she questioned the younger girl.

Sky continued to follow Natasha, not thinking of anything of it "yeah, can't you?"

Natasha looked weirdly at Skye before shaking her head and lead her into her own study at the Avengers study. She guided the young women into one of the couch chairs.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Skye asked cautiously, everyone had been giving her sympathetic looks or looks of sorrow and she couldn't understand what was going on. She was positive that she hasn't done anything wrong, or at least, she hasn't done anything wrong to her knowledge, and she would have known if she had done something wrong.

She had a freakishly good memory, it wasn't something she shared because many people got freaked out at how easily Skye could recall something, it was useful when she was learning to code. Miles once said she could use her good memory to learn new languages; but she never saw the point. She thought she was never going to travel outside a prominently English speaking country. However, that all changed since she going S.H.I.E.L.D, maybe she should give it a go. Her memory was one of her many hidden talents. She wasn't exactly one for sharing anything with the team, despite the serum making her want to share everything with them, once she realised they were keeping things from her, she found it much easier to keep these secrets from them.

This freakishly good memory is why she is positive she hasn't done anything that could be considered wrong, but who knows, maybe she broke some unofficial rule that no one told her about. It wouldn't be the first time that that has happened.

"I want to talk about how you are being treated." Natasha said, taking a deep breath before continuing "It has...come to my attention, that we are not treating you like we should be, most of us often treating you like an outside, not properly telling you everything and letting you stumble and fall as you try to figure out what we have done to you and it is not fair on you. You're just a kid with too much on their plate without adding a shitty pack to it. So, I wanted to apologise, for how I, and the pack, have been treating you." she finished, meeting Skye's eyes.

Skye froze. Out of everything she was expecting, she was not expecting an apology for the distrust that was displayed towards her, the quick judgement of her character. She thought that it would be like pulling teeth to get an apology from them, but here Natasha was, giving an apology, seemingly without being prompted. It filled her with happiness that the pack was recognising that they had been treating her like shit.

"Maria and Sharon haven't been treating me like shit." Skye pointed out, making sure that Natasha knew she failed as an alpha. They've hurt her, now she's hurting Natasha by pointing out her shortcomings and that her beta was able to step up and do her job.

Natasha winced at Skye's accusation "Yeah I have no idea how you got so close to them, out of everyone who despises additions to the pack, it's generally Maria."

"Why?" Skye asked curiously

"Look, most of the time, we get to approve of who joins the wolf programme, especially Maria since she was the one who was last put in charge; she still is technically in charge of the programme, she just has someone verifying her decisions as well now: the head alpha. However, no one got a choice in whether or not you join the wolf programme, and certainty not what pack you joined. It's made several of us a little distrusting, it shouldn't have, but it did. We were curious as to why it was never run pasted us, we thought it might have been someone higher up, it wouldn't be the first time someone in the chain of command attempted to put their own man in the programme to find out exactly what it is. It's no excuse, of course. So we will try our best to make it up to you." Natasha finished, leaning forward and grabbing Skye's hands.

Skye sighed and pulled her hands back and placed them in her laps, she could feel the small pull at the back of her mind, the little voice (that sounded suspiciously like Natasha) pushing for her to outright forgive the leader of the pack. She shook her head, she wasn't going to let herself be a pushover like that. She has had enough people in her time walk all over her, hurt her and apologise to her, expecting her to forgive them only for them to do it all over again. Skye wasn't about to let it happen this time.

"Alright. You can start by telling me everything. Who the head alpha was, why I was actually introduced into this pack, what all the physical and mental effects of being in a pack are. Everything." Skye demanded, making sure to look Natasha in the eyes, a sign that she was serious about her request.

"Of course" Natasha replied smoothly "some of the information is best told somewhere more private, but I suppose I can tell you the bare minimum for the now... I just don't want to get started and then have to stop because of something, is that okay?"

Skye just nodded in response.

"Okay, the head alpha is Peggy Carter, the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. Now, the Avengers do not know about our furry little problems, so therefore Steve Rogers certainty does not know that Peggy Carter is still alive. SHIELD has sent him running in circles when it comes to her, currently he think she is in some care home in New Jersey. We are under strict orders to never tell him the truth, unless Peggy says otherwise. Now, the head alpha is the reining alpha of all the packs, there is about 4 packs now, I think. I don't really interact with any other pack, minus Hand's pack, but thats only because our pack intertwine a lot. If Peggy gives you a command, and it conflicts/goes against a command I've given, you follow Peggy's command. If it were to ever come down to it, and you had to choice between Peggy and myself, always go for Peggy, kid. She'll be in the right and no doubt I'll be being a dick, as Maria so eloquently puts it.

As for why you were specifically asked to join, without any of us knowing previously, I honestly have no idea. You'll have to ask Peggy when you meet her, and no, I don't know when that is. Peggy tends to take a backburner when it comes to us. She believes that we can look after our packs ourselves, but does occasionally school us when we are wrong...like with you...she met me recently and basically kicked my ass and told me I was wrong in how I was dealing with you and told me to sort it out." Natasha explained

"Knew it" Skye mumbled.

"Sorry?"

"I said, I knew it. I knew it was weird that you all of a sudden decided to apologise to me...I suppose I should be happy that someone recognised what you were doing and made you stop...I thought Maria would, but she never did. Skye replied

"No, Maria did, but she's my Beta, I basically told her to shut up, that I knew what I was doing. Then she complained to Peggy. Peggy is very protective of Maria, ever since she joined SHIELD, even more so when it was discovered that Maria was Sharon's, Peggy grand daughter, soul mate. Peggy listens to her without question when it comes to me, probably because I fuck up more than the others when it comes to running a pack. So don't think the worst of Maria, it was my fault." Natasha explained carefully.

There was many things she was and there was many horrible acts she was willing to do, even to her own pack mates, but break a bond that had been created between two of them when the other was viewed as an outcast? No, that would be the worst thing Natasha could do for Skye, strengthening that bond between them would be the best thing. Maybe she should send Maria a text and tell her to come over whilst Coulson and his team were visiting.

"Oh. Okay...surprisingly that makes me feel better...than Maria really was watching out for me." Skye said softly, looking down as a small smile made its way onto her face. It warmed her heart to know that Maria was looking out for her and had her best interests at heart.

Natasha watched Skye's reaction with a heavy heart, it should be Natasha that was getting that reaction out Skye, not Maria. Natasha would have been happy if it was Mel that Skye was attaching herself to as most of the pack seemed to attach themselves to either Mel or herself, but never to Maria. It was a first...and it was a true sign that Natasha had failed Skye.

"Come sit over here, Skye" Natasha asked faintly, not really expecting the girl to come to her, but it was worth a shot asking. She watched with morbid interest as Skye seemed to tense up and move to her stiffly and sat down next to Natasha.

Natasha frowned slightly, that wasn't normal. She didn't give a command to Skye, she was merely asking; yet the girl acted like it was a command. She really hoped this wasn't a side effect of the packs attitude, being cast out of pack generally had negative effects on the poor wolf but never has there been a wolf who was never properly accepted into a pack without being cast out. It could very well be a side effect, but to be more submissive? Potentially it could very well be a survival instinct within the wolf, the more submissive she were to the alpha, the less likely that she will be casted out the pack. She will have to have a chat with Peggy and the other alpha's about this, because if this really was a side effect, then they all needed to learn from Natasha's mistake.

"Sorry Skye, that wasn't supposed to be a command...guess it just slips sometimes" Natasha said, forcing out an awkward laugh.

Skye just gave her a small smile and shrugged her shoulders in response, causing Natasha to sigh. She wrapped one arm around Skye and pulled her close to her, so that she could hold Skye against her.

"Is this okay?"she murmured to the younger girl.

"Very much so" Skye whispered back, shifting around until she was lying comfortably against Natasha, it was a great feeling. "I guess the feeling of elation is a mental side effect of the wolf serum then, huh?" Skye asked, gripping Natasha tightly.

Their conversation had taken on a hushed tone as they began to ask and answer questions "yeah, it's part of the mental link, you will generally feel happy, content and safe when around the alpha or beta or even the alpha's mate. It's been seen that the emotions that you feel when with the alpha, or beta I suppose, is a replication of the ones you feel with you are with your soulmate, once you complete the bond of course." Natasha explained, slowly running her hand through Skye's hair.

"Well this definitely feels like I'm with Bobbi, something just slightly different about this though, I'm not sure what." Skye mumbled, nuzzling further against Natasha.

"You alright there?" Nat questioned

"I can still hear Jemma and Clint during this heart to heart. They are currently doing some kinky stuff." Skye explained, pressing one side of her head against Natasha's shoulder.

Natasha gently ran her finger along the shell of Skye's ear, causing a shudder, thoughtfully. "Great pair of ears you got there. Did you always have good hearing?" Natasha asked

"Mhm, kind of, maybe just slightly above average hearing before? But now it feels like I can hear everything in a building. It sucks when I go outside, I have to just try and focus on someone so that I don't get too over-whelmed." Skye mumbled, revelling in the feeling of being in Natasha's arms.

"Hmm, well another side effect of the serum is that it enhances a physical aspect of us. For Clint, his eyes were freakishly good beforehand but now? You should see the distance between him and a target sometimes. It's fantastic. Mel and myself have found ourselves more flexible, agile. It's easier for us to transform between our wolf and our human bodies. Fitz and Simmons found that their brain's processing speed had sped up, and after that, we struggle to get them out the lab some days. It seems that one of your physical enhancement is that your hearing has increased. That's interesting. I wonder if anything else will change about you physically." Natasha mused. "So how are things between you and Bobbi?" she enquired, noticing the distance between the two soul mates.

"We're on a break" Skye said

"Care to elaborate?" Natasha inquired

"Well- no...no...no, not really." Skye stuttered out, seemingly fighting something. Her wolf must have registered that as a command. She really needs to speak to Peggy soon, and be careful with how she phrases things around Skye until they get this sorted.

"Okay, you want to stay here for a bit? Or do you want to go downstairs and get to know the avengers more, maybe challenge Stark to a hack off or something?" Natasha said, teasing Skye lightly.

Skye held up her arm "I can't" she replied miserably.

Natasha gently took Skye's arm and looked carefully at the bracelet, eyeing it with suspicion, before her eyes lit up "oh I know how to deal with this, 'disengage bracelet; command level 8; widow" Natasha said, speaking clearly into the bracelet.

Skye sat up and watched as the bracelet open easily. "You've got to be kidding me?! 'Disengage bracelet?' that's all I had to say?"

"Well no, that's all Coulson had to say. I had to put in my clearance level and part of my password to get it off you. We will put a fake one on for the now and I'll keep Coulson busy whilst you have your fun with Stark, how does that sound?" Natasha asked, sitting up properly, still holding Skye against her as the women contemplated her suggestion.

Skye stood and held out a hand to Natasha "Sounds like a plan."

"Excellent" Natasha grinned as she led the way downstairs, grabbing the fake bracelet out from a drawer.

"This doesn't mean I've forgiven you, by the way, but it is a step closer" Skye informed her. Natasha simply nodded.

"I didn't expect you to forgive me, or the pack, right away." Natasha replied as she led them out to meet the others, firing a quick text to Maria to tell her to come over. "Don't forget, our talk is not over. We still have a lot of things to discuss but right now, I'd rather have you socialising with everyone."

Skye snorted "You're acting like I'm a recluse"

"You lived in a van." Natasha deadpanned.

"Willingly! I willingly lived in a van, besides, I had a boyfriend and I socialised" Skye protested as they walked into the elevator

"You socialised with other weird social recluses" Natasha retorted, smiling as they made their way downstairs.

"pft, whatever, my group of hacker recluses were lame anyways, I'm about to hangout with superheroes! That include the worlds second best hacker!" Skye exclaimed, grinning at Natasha

"Oh? And who is the worlds best hacker then?" Natasha teased, knowing fine well what Skye's answer was going to be.

"Me, of course!" Skye said, walking out of the lift, laughing.

"You, of course, what?" came Stark's voice.

Skye turned to him, a predators grin on her face, her teeth gleaming against the light "I was just telling Natasha how you were the worlds second best hacker and that I am clearly the best hacker." she replied, teasing him lightly.

Stark raised an eyebrow and Steve seemed to choke on his coffee and Bruce outright laughed.

"Is that a challenge, young agent?" Stark challenge, smirking at the girl as he reached for his laptop.

"It is, old man" Skye taunted "well... it would be if I knew where my laptop was." she said, turning to look at Coulson.

"You have your bracelet on, I'm not taking it off just because you got gutsy and challenge Stark" he replied, eyebrow raised.

"Aww, c'mon Coulson, wouldn't you just love to see him knocked down a few pegs?" Skye whinned

"No."

"May!" Skye complained, turning to the other women, who simply raised and eyebrow and shook her head.

"But-"

"Leave it Skye." May said, cutting her off. The older women's eyes shifted quickly to Natasha and back and Skye got the message. She walked over to one of the many couches and lazily sat down.

"Just you wait Stark, a week or however Coulson decides to keep this, and I'll be kicking your ass!" Skye threatened, leaning back and burst out laughing.

Bobbi, who Skye conveniently sat next to, rolled her eyes at the childish behaviour that Skye was showing. She went to grab Skye and hold her tight, but quickly pulled her hand back into her lap, reminding herself that that just wasn't their relationship anymore.

'_You know it's totally your own fault' _Bobbi hears Natasha

_'Yes, yes, I know, I'm working on it. Just like your working on your relationship with Skye, that you've totally fucked' _Bobbi snarked. Mental links sucked '_Also, stay out of my head_' she demanded, not liking it when Natasha did the whole mental link when they were in their human forms.

_'Don't snap at me because you failed in your own relationship'_ Natasha growled at her, a small growl actually escaping her lips.

Steve turned to give Natasha a weird look, but she wasn't even looking at him, she was staring intently at one of the new agents,the blonde one...Bobbi, who was glaring at Natasha and then the most absurd thing happened, well if anyone were to ask him, Bobbi let out the most animalistic snarl he ever heard from a human...he wasn't even sure if humans could make that sound. He frown as he saw Natasha outright glare at the women, her lips moving as he

heard a soft;

"Do that again, Barbra Morse and I'll rip each strand of your hair out of your head before twisting your neck. Understand?"

The blonde women seemed to deflate after that, sitting back in the couch, her eyes adverted from everyone in the room. The room suddenly seemed to be filled with tension, the brunet, Skye, sitting next to Bobbi placed her had on the women's arm, squeezing it tightly in what seemed like comfort. Coulson friend, May, had her lips pursed as her eyes flicked between Natasha and Bobbi.

Everyone else seemed to be unaware of the tension as they continued talking and laughing. Steve just frowned. Something wasn't right and he was going to find out what and how he could only barely hear the conversation with his enhanced hearing, yet, these people seemed to hear what Natasha said with ease. It was curious to say at the least.

"Hey, where's Fitz?" Skye questioned and Steve tuned back into the conversation, saving this information for later as he plastered a smile on his face to listen to the others in the room.

Bobbi let out a snort "Where do you think? He's down exploring Stark's labs. Without supervision, which is such a bad idea."

"If it's such a bad idea, why don't you go get him Morse?" Natasha stated cooly, leaning forward in her seat to stare down Bobbi.

"Now, now Natasha, there is no need to be so rude. We all know what Fitz and Simmons are like when they get in labs and from the butt dialling I got off of Clint, I'd say Simmons is extremely busy at the moment." Maria said, entering the room with a smile and Sharon trailing behind her, looking hesitant. Maria turned to Sharon "You want to go find Fitz?" She offered, sensing the discomfort from her mate.

"Just go in the lift and ask JARVIS for Fitz and he'll take you there" Stark instructed, his eyes on Maria "then you can come back and introduce yourself."

Sharon rolled her eyes but did as she was instructed, gently letting her hand run smoothly over Maria's fingers as she left.

"Bobbi you have a mission, report to the NYC base in an hour. Agent Hand will brief you. We need your special skills set" Maria said, authority leaking into her voice as Bobbi nodded and stood to go grab her stuff.

"Special skill set?" Steve inquired

"That's classified" Maria replied

"How can a special skill set be classified?" Steve retorted

"Well it wouldn't be special if it wasn't classified, or if everyone knew about it Captain. People might try to replicate it" Maria informed him, going over and sitting next to Skye, who was staring at her with hurt eyes "what?" she asked, looking at Skye's heartbroken face.

"You're taking Bobbi away from me?" She questioned quietly

Maria frowned "I was under the impression that you and her were on a break"

"Well yeah, but...but, she was still going to be around... we haven't been separated before... I-" Skye rushed out,

looking panicked.

"Relax Skye, you'll be fine" Maria assured her, gently gripping her hand.

"We'll look after you, Maria, Mel and myself will be around. Don't worry. Go say your goodbye to Bobbi in private" Natasha muttered quickly enough for only the pack, and Steve, to hear.

"I'm going to go talk to Bobbi" Skye mumbled, getting up to go find Bobbi.

The others in the room watched in confusion as Skye left.

"What's up with her?" Tony asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Oh, Bobbi is her mate and they haven't spent time away from each other yet, so this is going to be difficult for them, she'll be okay though." Coulson explained, shifting his eyes quickly to Melinda, trusting her on what she previously said about Skye.

"Must be tough. Is their bond new?" Bruce asked gently, looking interested. He has previously dabbled in work concerning the soul mate bond.

Coulson looked to May for that one, she knew more about Skye and her bond with Bobbi than he did.

"They've started the bonding process but not quite finished it" May explained, pulling a wince from everyone in the room. All of them having heard rumours of the pain felt by separated soul mates who haven't finalised the bond. "She'll be fine, she's got enough support to get her through Bobbi's mission, I can't imagine Bobbi will be gone more than 2 days, Maria?" May questioned, turning it towards the other women.

"Since it's requiring her special skill set, I imagine she will have to be careful and take things a bit slower, but I don't believe she will be away for more then 2 nights, especially with Hand running the operation" Maria explained.

"She's gonna complain so much" Tony stated, getting up to pour himself a drink "She's going to need like 20 of these an hour" he finished, holding up his glass of whisky.

"She's going to be training whilst Bobbi is gone, she wont have time to miss Bobbi, never mind drink her sorrows away" May said, causing the other field agents in the room to chuckled, their own memories of training coming to mind.

"They don't act like soul mates, in fact up until now, it seemed like they were avoiding each other" Steve observed

"Things become complicated between them" May replied "So they decided to take a break"

"That's unusual" Steve commented, sitting back in his chair.

"Just wait till you get to know Skye, unusual will become a word you use to describe her" Coulson joked.

The room fell silent as Bobbi and Skye came back down with Clint and Jemma trailing behind them. The latter of the two couples still had sex hair and crocked clothes, but the sleazy grins on both their faces tells everyone that they got their fill.

"I can literally smell the sex off of the two of you" Bobbi complained, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Shut up Morse, you're just jealous that I'm getting laid and you aren't" Clint shot back, wrapping his arms protectively around Jemma.

"Mmm, I'd rather be having no sex than have sex with you ever again Barton, that was an experience and a half." Bobbi retorted, smirking as Clint scowled at her.

"Sex with Clint is brilliant Bobbi, maybe you were thinking about your own performance that time" Jemma added sweetly from where she was resting against Clint's side.

A roar of laughter swept the room, Coulson and Skye attempted to keep the grins of their faces but they were failing terribly. Jemma smiled smugly at Bobbi and held up both of her hands and made a fist with one and held up one finger on the other with a wink. Bobbi rolled her eyes and childishly stuck out her tongue.

"Whatever Jemma, pretty sure I spelt some weed earlier, maybe that's why you are under the delusion that Clint is good at sex" Bobbi fired back.

"Enough you two, you have somewhere to be Bobbi and by the looks of things, Skye isn't too early to let you go" Maria said, breaking up the verbal sparing match.

Skye scoffed at Maria's words "I'll be perfectly fine whilst Bobbi is gone. She'll be the one who will be a crying mess, missing me. Meanwhile, I'll be back here living it up." She joked, determined to show that she wasn't going to be affected by, or that she would be the only one effected.

Everyone seemed to assume that Skye would be the one to take it the hardest, but the bond worked both ways, if Skye was missing Bobbi so much that it hurt, then Bobbi was missing Skye so much that it hurt. Two way connection, yet everyone was acting like it wold be just her that was miserable.

"Sure, the difference is Bobbi's mind will be pre-occupied with the mission, she is too trained to allow something like emotional pain to take her focus away from the mission. You, however, haven't gotten that far in your training, but I am sure that May will be starting that tonight." Maria replied, looking over at Skye as if she knew exactly what the younger women was thinking.

Skye shrugged her shoulders, causing a small delayed silence where she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she deliberated as to whether or not to hug Bobbi or kiss her or both. She just stated to her, earlier that day or rather last night, that she wanted to go back to the basics. Friends do not have a make out session every time one of them went on a mission. So a hug it will be. A brief flare of disappointment appeared in the back of her mind. Probably Bobbi. Skye's now determined to get Natasha to fully explain how the mind link works between the pack, because sometimes it was there and other times it wasn't. It was extremely confusing.

Skye surged forward and pulled Bobbi into a hug, holding the slightly taller women tightly against her. Bobbi blinked in surprise but dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around Skye, resting her head on Skye's shoulder. Skye responded by gently getting Bobbi to tucked her head under Skye's chin. It was a slightly awkward position but Bobbi loved it, normally she was the one in Skye's position but it was nice to be the theoretical standing up spoon. Bobbi buried her head against Skye's neck, breathing in the scent of the women. Unknown to the others, the girls had swapped several articles of clothing; "to help the separation', was the excuse. It wasn't like Bobbi got grumpy when she couldn't smell Skye (the amount of times Clint and Natasha teased her about that was unbelievable), but really, if Bobbi got grumpy without Skye around then really swapping clothes was in the best interest of everyone in the mission. A grumpy Bobbi means an unhappy team and an unhappy team leads to mistakes. Totally practical.

The two of them pulled apart slowly, trying not to let anyone see how much they were breaking up inside over the separation.

Bobbi stood up straight and flashed a grin at Skye; "Well, see you later kid." she said, picking up her back and walking into the lift with a wave at everyone else "Save me some of the good alcohol and don't let them drink you dry, Stark" she teased.

Skye scowled at Bobbi "I'm not a kid!" she called out as the door's closed, the last thing she saw was Bobbi winking at her. Stupid Bobbi. Her shoulders deflated a little, but she wasn't about to let this stupid separation get in the way of her enjoying the Avengers Tower. It was gonna be great.

Or at least, she hoped. What exactly could go wrong in the Avengers Tower?

'_Now you've done it, you've went and jinxed it_' Natasha broadcasted dramatically over the pack's link.

Skye resisted the urge to scowl as a wave of laughter came from the others '_You have no boundaries_'

'_Bite me_' Natasha teased, but stiffened in shock as Skye came over and literally bit Natasha's arm with a smirk.

'_You have fun explaining this to everyone._' Skye thought, grinning at the way the unintentional command back fired.

Everyone was now staring at the two as Skye put on an overly dramatic voice "Oh Natasha! You haven't explained the game to them? Ha, you guys will love it" Skye said, flinging Natasha a wink as she nestled in next to the women who was staring at the others, desperately trying to think of a reason as to why Skye bite her.

It was going to be a long two weeks.


	11. Little Scratch Here and There

Operation Shadows  
Chapter 11

Skye was freaking out. Just slightly. She was getting into the front of one of the many SHIELD SUV'S. May had hauled herself in the drivers seat and flashed her a small, comforting smile before driving out the Avengers garage with Clint and Jemma in the back. Apparently they were all to go to a meeting, a big meeting between all the wolves. Natasha and Maria wouldn't say anything but they kept shooting each other concerned glances as the were walking to the car. May had been looking at Natasha curiously, so Skye figured that she also did not know what was going on, which would be a first.

It was, however, exciting to see the rest of the wolves and finally meet the head alpha, Peggy Carter. Skye was positive that it would be an experience and a half, and, she was about to see Bobbi again. Butterflies erupted in her stomach at the thought of seeing her mate again after the short period of being separated. Sky wasn't going to lie and say she didn't miss Bobbi, that would just be stupid and everyone would just see through her lie. Everyone in the room had experienced separation from their mates at some point, it was part of the job description, but at least when they did it (generally) if was after they completed the bond, which made Skye half tempted to just complete it so that the itch under her skin wouldn't be as bad whenever Bobbi, or herself, had to go on a mission or be separated again.

When Bobbi had originally left, it was easy to ignore the small tingling under her skin and as the hours progressed, the more it changed from tingling to irritating to a burning sensation underneath her skin. She grumbled and rubbed irritably at her wrist, which was losing some of its skin. Jemma had to bandage up her left wrist due to Skye scratching it so hard that she lost the skin there and it started bleeding heavily. She kept at it, despite the blood flowing from her wrist, she didn't care, all she cared about was getting that irritating sensation gone and scratch had helped to relieve that.

Being separated once something she could handle, it's not like it was the first time she was separated from someone she loved, she could handle the overwhelming feeling of loneliness, despite being surrounded by people who claimed to care about her, she could handle the overwhelming need to be able to smell Bobbi (okay, mainly she was able to handle it during the day but at night it was just too much and she ended up sleeping in Bobbi's bed); it was just the damn itch under her skin. That was something she could not handle, she never experience this kind of personal torture before.

Simmons had been great though, she held Skye whenever she could, running her hand softly through the girl's hair till it got to the point where Skye couldn't tell if Simmons was doing this to comfort her or if it was just because it felt really good. She remembered entwining their fingers together; Jemma would run her thumb over the outside of her hand absently as the watch the movie and squeeze their hands together every so often. Whilst it wasn't much to help with the pain under her skin, it was a nice distraction.

Apparently she was handling this much better than they all thought. Which Skye was ecstatic about because she knew that they all thought that Skye would be a nervous wreck, but according to Sharon, Bobbi was doing badly on her mission because she was too worked up about being separated from Skye. Skye wasn't exactly taking pleasure in the fact that her mate was doing badly on a mission, in fact it was worrying her endlessly, but it did bring her a little satisfaction to hear the worrying voices of May and Natasha as the two of them came up with some training plan for her and Bobbi to help deal with the separation.

Skye was brought out of her thoughts as the car finally came to a still. "Finally" she muttered, stretching in her seat "how did you explain this one to Coulson?" she enquired, looking at May.

May grimaced a little "I created a cover story...sort of, well, basically I got Fury to give Coulson something to do whilst we came here to discuss whatever the hell is going on"

"How much longer are we going to lie to him?" Skye asked tentatively, knowing that it was a sore point with May and Natasha as they still didn't have permission to tell Coulson what they were.

"I don't know" May replied quietly, her eyes downcast momentarily before standing up straight, putting on a cocky look as Natasha walked over, holding herself in a similar way. The two of them seem to completely transform into their namesakes; The Black Widow and The Calvary. The way the two of the smile coyly at each other and hooked their arms together, the radiated confidence and well, Skye had to be honest, it was the first time that Natasha actually looked and acted like what she expected an alpha to be like. It was strange and a slight turn on, which was also weird and she was totally going to ignore that part.

Maria appeared smoothly behind Natasha, with Sharon on her arm, it was like a mirror image, except, less dominating. It was very hard to describe what exactly was happening but it was like the four of them had completely changed their personalities.

Sharon caught Skye's lost look and gave her a sympathetic smile "I know this seems weird Skye, but basically what we are doing is trying to make ourselves look better than every other pack in their. We try to appear stronger, smarter and far more seductive and attractive than them. Kinda makes us more dominant, understand?"

Skye nodded and began looking around for Bobbi, she knew that she was here somewhere. Bobbi slide up behind her and placed her hand on her lower back, sliding it under Skye's shirt and let her fingers trail back and forth. Skye loosen up and titled her head to look up and Bobbi and smiled lightly.

"Good to see that you are alive and well Morse" she teased, sliding her arms around Bobbi and cuddling into her side. Bobbi dropped her head down and kissed the top of Skye's head.

"It's good to be alive and well or I'd have to go another day without seeing your beautiful face" Bobbi flirted back. Skye grinned, this was the Bobbi that she loved, the flirting, inappropriate and nerdy Bobbi. She had missed her and knew that the only reason she was being this affectionate was because they had been separated for so long as well as what Sharon said. They needed to appear better than everyone else and the couldn't do that if her and Bobbi, who were meant to be mates, were barely interacting with each other. It would suggest that there is a problem with the pack. She glanced at Bobbi, hoping that she understand why Skye was doing was she was doing. Bobbi stared back at her with her kind and understanding eyes.

"I get it, don't worry, but, just so you know... I'm going to make the most of it before we go cold turkey again tomorrow" Bobbi said, grinning at her but the look in her eyes was basically asking if Skye would be okay with the two of them acting like a couple for the meeting, and Skye couldn't come up with a valid reason to not be okay with it at this precise moment.

"You better get your fill then Morse, cause we are gonna go cold turkey for a long time" Skye replied with a smirk.

Bobbi laughed and pulled Skye closer as the others looked back at them with a smile. Bobbi's fingers grazed across Skye's bandaged wrist questioningly but Skye diverted the thoughts by entwining their hands together and Bobbi got the message and just placed another soft kiss on top of her head as the two of them fell into line and walked at a leisurely pace towards the meeting.

"Okay" Natasha drawled to them without looking back "Most of you know the drill, we go in, we be better than everyone else in there. We are on our best behaviours, no fighting with each other or displaying any negative feelings towards each other and always support whatever anyone in our pack says, anything you disagree on can be talked about once we leave here. Also, no fighting Tori's pack either guys, the two of us are to be a united front from now on, especially after the last meeting we all had together. If a fight breaks up,team up with Tori's pack and beat everyone else up. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am" they all chorused as Skye turned to look at Bobbi with a raised eyebrow, Bobbi's reply was just a wink, causing her to roll her eyes.

"So do you know we have this meeting, Bobbi?" Clint asked, looking back at his fellow bird.  
Bobbi's eyes darken lightly as she thought about her mission.

"Yeah, I know why we are. You'll find out in a second, no point in repeating this several times"

10 hours Ago

Bobbi sighed as she set the sniper down slowly her eyes glowed lightly in the dark as she observed the chaotic scene below her. She set the distraction as the mission planned and once their target fled the building, she'd shoot him. Plain and simply. Supposedly. She was only half heartedly listening to her coms, absently scratching at her arm heavily, simply waiting for the key words to be said, her concentration for the mission constantly wavered. Bobbi had no idea why Hand wanted on her on this mission, surely she would have known that Bobbi only just met her mate? The damn women could have picked someone from her own pack.

Her arm felt like it was on god damn fire. She resisted the urge to keep scratching in the same place. One of her arms was already slightly torn up from using a knife to satisfy the burning sensation under her skin. She ended up taking off more skin than she ever planned, obviously she bandaged up that arm, but now her other arm was going crazy and it was spreading through her body but she had to focus on this mission and not the burning sensation that was irritating the fuck out of her.

Bobbi grumbled under her breath as she pulled Skye's space scarf from her bag and wrapped it securely around her neck, pulling it up over her mouth and nose, in hopes that it would ease the burning. She pulled the sniper back up and levelled it at the entrance of the building. She watched as the people below slowly turned to violence as a solution for the fear and terror they felt. Honestly, all she did was shoot two bullets through the building, she didn't even hit anything, and yet these pompous bastards were already pulling out guns and grabbing their body guards to fight their fights for them. It was pathetic.

Bobbi scowled at them as she set her line of sight up on her target; some paedophile, human trafficking asshole who was attempting to wiggle his way into world security. He made it pretty far up, that's why Shield decided to kill him off. Apparently it was agreed between the three agencies of America that it would be best for everyone involved if this man was to be outright killed and apparently Bobbi was the best one for the job. Fucking bullshit.

She let out a small sigh and scratched at her arm, the others were right, she does get cranky when she can't smell or see Skye. This was ridiculous. She needs to pull herself together, she is on a mission. The irritation of being separated from Skye, the guy who she was sent to kill and being on the mission in the first place was put to the back of her mind. Not that it did much good, she could literally feel it spreading all over her body and this was on top of the feeling of burning alive. She clenched her teeth as the irritation turned to anger at the whole situation. She hefted the sniper back up and shot the target just as he fled the building.

"There. Done. Can I go now Hand?" she grumbled into her coms.

"Natasha was right, you are grumpy without Skye." Victoria replied, the teasing tone present but Bobbi wasn't having any of it and snarled into the mic.

"Play nice Bobbi, you're almost done. Just make sure those girls get out once the police arrive on scene, alright? I don't want them killed" Hand instructed.

Bobbi muttered a small 'affirmative' and used the new technology, micro bots or something, Bobbi wasn't really paying attention, to disintegrate the gun. It was a new way to make sure that kills could not be linked back to them. Bobbi rolled her shoulders, causing them to let out an irritated crack. Bobbi grumbled some more as she stretched out, she felt completely uncomfortable in her skin at the moment and she wondered if Hand would let her shift.

"So, Hand, you ever read Twilight?" Bobbi asked, it was a code for them, ask the person who was handling the mission (generally another wolf) if they had read a story with a wolf in it.

Hand snorted down the coms, deciding that since Bobbi already has most of the mission done, she could shift "Yes I have Agent Morse. It was terrible, but it was the craze" she replied, rolling her eyes and silencing the coms as she heard the familiar cracks of the bones shifting.

Bobbi groaned with delight as she shifted in her wolf form, the feeling of irritation was slowly leaving her body as she shifted into a more familiar form, it brought comfort to her as she heard the distant voices of her pack, some of them appear to have shift. Probably Maria and Sharon, the two of them enjoyed being more in their wolf forms than their actual human skin.

_'Shouldn't you be focusing on your mission Bobbi' _Sharon enquired. Bobbi could easily imagine the women lounging lazily on a chair, more cat than wolf as she watched Maria pace around a room.

_'I am focusing. I've done the main part, I'm just watching to make sure everything works itself out in regards to the victims'_ Bobbi mumbled, the ache of Skye was present in her heart in this form but it was much better than the anger and irritation of being human.

_'What the hell is up with you Bobbi? You're never this angry, unless it concerns Hunter' came Maria gruff thoughts._

_Bobbi snarled aloud ' Don't talk about that asshole, and why do you think? I'm pissed off that I got chosen for this stupid ass mission. Hand has dozen of other wolves at her disposal so why the fuck did she pick me? It was just a stupid hit mission, any spy worth their shit could pull this off' _she snapped back angrily, pacing in the woods the she resided in, stopping at Skye's scarf and burying her snout in it.

'_You know why. Your reaction, you need a calibration training session with myself and May. Probably after you complete the bond. You're losing focus Morse. Focus! Someone is coming up behind you_' Natasha snapped, tapping into Bobbi's sense, something she didn't like to do often but she had to make sure that Bobbi wasn't going to get herself killed on a mission because of the mental link. It was frustrating for all of them when it first happened and they all had to learn to get over with help from everyone else in the pack. God knows that when she first had her link that Maria was constantly in her head during mission to make sure she didn't kill herself.

Bobbi lazily lifted her head as she pulled herself back to the present, forcing the voices of her pack to the back of her head as she watch two men creep up towards her, aiming their guns shakily at her.

"_That is the one the General said to look out for! The human wolf!_" The man yelled in German. Why is it that they are always either German, Russian or British? Make the bad guys Spanish for once, spice it up, America isn't short on enemies around the world.

Either way, this was not good, how on earth does a german army brat know about the wolf programme? Everyone had been sworn to secrecy about the programme unless they had permission from Fury or Carter, which means there is a leak somewhere. This had to be reported right away.

'Natasha, did you get that?' Bobbi thought, allowing the link to be more open as she stood up and growled at the two men approaching her.

'Got it, got Sharon reporting to Fury.' Natasha replied back, an edge of irritation to her thoughts.

Bobbi snarled as the two guards pulled the triggers to their guns, the bullets lodging themselves in her body but Bobbi easily shook it off and began a menacing prowl forward, her lips pulled back showing her her massive teeth, which were nice and sharp and very white, Bobbi took great pride in having good teeth.

_'Yeah it would be a shame if you got those nice white teeth stained red'_ Maria snarked.

Bobbi rolled her eyes as the three of them began to circle each other_ 'I will stain them if need be.'_

_'Do it.' _Came the command of Peggy Carter, Bobbi stiffened slightly but allowed herself to be lost in the command to kill. It weighed less on her conscience this way. Not that it matter, they were part of a human trafficking service, Bobbi was most likely going to kill them anyway, they shouldn't be allowed to live. '_The less people who know about the wolf programme the better Bobbi. Even if it means we have to start killing them off one by one like this. I want this leak kept to a minimum. Kill everyone there.'_

_'Including the civilians?'_ Bobbi enquired as she lunged towards the men, wrapping her mouth around the first mans neck and roughly shaking her jaw, hearing the satisfying snap of his neck and tore her mouth away, making sure to take a chunk out of the guys neck just to safe. She turned round to the other guy, making sure to look as feral as possible with the blood dripping from her snarling mouth.

_'Leave the civilians for now, we've taken over the camera's in that area so we can identify them and follow them to make sure that they don't leave her with the knowledge of humans that can turn into wolves. If this got out...well, it would certainly be something.'_ Peggy sounded,her thoughts heavy with the burden of a potential break out of information '_The information that this project has gotten out is dire. We will be having a meeting with everyone to discuss this once you come back Bobbi. Get back safe.'_ she finished.

_'Yes ma'am'_ Bobbi replied and sprung on the other man, killing him effectively. Bobbi shook out her fur, hoping she didn't get any blood on it or else she was making Natasha give her a bath, and she was not going to make it easy for her. Bobbi looked out over the forrest where she lay hidden as she identified all her targets and then lunged into actions.

Taking a life was never easy, even if the people deserved it. Sure there was a sense that you were giving justice to the victims but the knowledge that you were taking someone's life, something that had been ingrained since birth that was absolutely wrong, felt weird to do. Bobbi had long gotten over the feeling of guilt from killing people, she welcomed the numbness that came from it. She was sure that Natasha had something to do with it at some point but it came natural soon enough.

Eventually the criminals were dead, the civilians had scattered with terrifying screams as soon as Bobbi made her first kill. Probably just thought it was a wolf gone crazy. Hopefully thats what they will continue to think for the rest of their lives, if they found out that it was a human in a wolf form basically going on a killing spree...well, it could be very damaging to them and the secret organisations, if it got out that it was them creating these beasts.

"Morse. Extraction in twenty minutes at rendezvous alpha." came Hand's voice over the coms. Bobbi just gruffed back an affirmative and ran towards the point in her wolf form. Much easier and faster, but before that, she ran up and grabbed her bag and Skye's scarf. Couldn't forget that.

Bobbi quickly shifted back into her human form once she was 5 minutes out from her extraction point and jogged the rest of the way, quickly cleaning her face and making sure she looked like she didn't just kill a bunch of people.

She walked on and the quinjet and chucked her bag onto one of the many seats and wrapped Skye's scarf tightly around her neck and dropped into the co-pilot's seat and nodded at Kara, who gave her a weary smile.

"How's it going Bobbi?" Kara asked as she started up the plane, flicking many of the switches.

Bobbi just heaved as sigh and followed Kara's lead and helped to set up the plane for flight, it took less than two minutes for them to do "Did you not think to do this before?" Bobbi teased lightly, placing her hands on the steering and glanced at Kara, who rolled her eyes.

"Nah, thought it would be a good bonding experience Morse" she shot back, grinning as they took off

"We'll get to have our annual bonding time at this meeting" Bobbi mumbled, watching the clouds fly by.

"I heard" Kara replied, cringing a little " I don't understand how the project got out. Fury and Carter must be shitting themselves. Plus, getting all the pack together? Remember what happened last time? The beta's tore into each other, that is something I do not wish to repeat, Maria packs a punch" she finished, a grimace on her face as she remember the fight that broke out and finish with Maria on top, smirking at them all.

"In your defence, the alpha's were encouraging it. Although it was fun to see Hill kick your ass. You managed to take a few down yourself but yeah Hill just beats everyone"

"Sounds like you've got a crush there Morse, doesn't Maria already have a mate, and don't you for that matter of fact?" Kara teased.

Bobbi rolled her eyes "Yeah Maria does, but doesn't stop her and Sharon from flirting with me and Skye. Plus, me and Skye are on a break right now. I've been gone for three days. Scouting these guys, following them and then killing them and now I have to fly back for a meeting where I won't be able to talk to her about anything or apologise again or make it up to her or anything" Bobbi ranted, huffing and looking away from Kara.

The situation with her mate just aggravated her. She wanted to fix things, she wanted to go back to cuddling her mate on the couch and watching bad spy movies. She wanted to be able to kiss her and claim her as hers in front of the others, but she had to fuck that all up for a fuck. What the hell was she thinking.

_'You weren't'_ came Natasha's cheery voice.

Bobbi growled lowly causing Kara too stare at her in concern, well more so.

"Bobbi..." she trailed, unsure as to how to comfort her best friend. It wasn't like the incident with Hunter, this was her actual mate, not some asshole who was a merc and didn't understand or accept Bobbi's lifestyle and wanted her to change everything about herself for him but he couldn't change anything about himself to accommodate their relationship.

"Look, just, not now Kara? Natasha's being a dick in my head right now." Bobbi mumbled, rubbing the side of her race in a mixture of frustration and exhaustion. She hasn't sleep for the past three days and she couldn't be bothered deal with a snarky Natasha. She could, however, deal with a lovely, caring and kind alpha that loved to look after pack members when they were down. She hopped Natasha got the hint.

_'I did. After the meeting I'll be the kind, loving and caring alpha you want me to be.'_ came the slightly guilty voice of Natasha, it was only a little bit of teasing, but it seems that Bobbi is not up for it today.

"Hate it when the alpha gets in your head, it's like we have no privacy" Kara grumbled and placed a hand on Bobbi's knee and squeezed it comfort.

"Thanks" Bobbi mumbled, her own hand resting on top of Kara's, grateful for her silent comfort and understanding.

The rest of the flight passed in small talk and junk food. They told each other stories of stupidity from their on pack, and weird things that their alpha's have made them do or what weird things they done themselves. It was relaxing and Bobbi missed the simpler times when the wolf programme was just getting started and the two packs were constantly around each other, almost acting as one pack. Until either one of the beta's or alphas fucked up the peace. It was still nice though. There wasn't much time for pack bonding recently due to the increase in missions that required their skill set.

Ever since the alien attack on New York, it seemed like all the organisations, good or bad, were attempting to up their game in regards to technology. So SHIELD either had to regulate these organisations, or destroy the new technology and steal the plans. It wasn't something that was easily done by a group of spies, which is why it was much easier to send an enhanced wolf, a good getaway disguise, with inhuman abilities than to send a team.

It didn't mean that any of the wolves like it, but it had to get done. Bobbi grumbled softly in her seat, causing Kara to look back over at her.

"You must be pretty angsty to get back to Skye, even with all the complications at the moment. You know you'll see her at the meeting, right? I know it's not the best of places to meet your mate after time apart but it's better than waiting a few more hours to see her, right?" Kara said softly.

"Yeah" Bobbi mumbled.

"Go to sleep Bobbi, you must be knackered. Get some rest for the meeting because for one, you'll be leading it and giving information and two, you'll need your strength to protect Skye if a fight breaks out again." She said teasingly "I've got the plane"

Bobbi nodded to Kara and just curled up in the co-pilot chair, reclining it back so that it was half way down and much more comfortable to sleep in. Kara stared at her fondly as she looked at her closest friend out with her pack. It was clear as day that Bobbi was feeling the stress and emotional turmoil of being away from Skye, she could see that from her eyes alone but it was also clear from the badly wrapped bandages around her arms. She must have been scratching. It wasn't an uncommon thing to happen, it just made the alpha's worry when it happened though. Kara placed the plane on auto pilot and went and grabbed the first aid kit before returning to her chair. She leaned over the plane instruments and carefully began to remove Bobbi's bandages and clean the self-inflicted wounds before re-dressing them cleanly. Kara tucked the last strand in with a smile and flung the emergency blanket over Bobbi and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, causing the spies nose to twitch in her sleep before Kara went back to focusing on flying the plane to the meeting. It should be interesting enough, she thought, at least this time she would be on the same side as Maria and not against her...again. Kara shuddered, she never wanted to face Maria in a fight again, that women was terrifying in a fight, even more terrifying when she wasn't, that women was a force to be reckoned with and the thought of her made her smile happily, a warm feeling surging through her as her eyes widen in realisation. Shit.


	12. Pack Meeting

Operation: Shadows  
Chapter 12

Skye had sat quietly behind the pack through out the meeting, only speaking when someone from the other pack questioned her about how she was settling in and what not, even then, she looked at Maria and Natasha for guidance on what to say or do. There wasn't much prep time in regards to what to say when someone was speaking to you or how to act. She was given the basics, which basically meant that at this meeting she was the new one, the youngest, the newbie, however you would like to put it, so essentially people were going to question her about how she was adapting to the pack but they would also do this as a way to get info on their pack, try and look for a weakness so that they could become top dog, so to speak. It made sense, so Skye always ran her answers through her head and glance at her top dogs to make sure everything was appropriate and that she wasn't unintentionally letting out any pack secrets. Skye may have been upset the pack for the numerous things that they have done wrong but she would never sell them out or allow another pack to get the upper hand over them; even if technically they were all one pack, Skye still enjoyed being a part of the best.

That was the start of the meeting, the rest of the meeting dealt with the concerns that Bobbi brought with her about how the security of her target knew about the wolves. Apparently what was more worrying was that no one had idea who the guy worked for. The guy was dead but all that meant was that they weren't sure if the guy was working alone and had found out or if he was working as part of a larger organisation, and if he was, then they had a problem on their hands.

"How did this information get out in the first place?" Natasha said angrily, slamming her hand on the table, looking around at the other wolves "In case any one forget, it was one of my pack members who was caught out and therefore was not properly informed on a mission. This is something that should have been check out before hand! Simple observation; is the target working for themselves or a larger organisation? This is like spy basics!" Natasha was tense as she finished, her eyes settling on Victoria as she was the handler of the mission.

Victoria sat forward, understanding Natasha's rage, as well as frustrations at not being able to call her out properly as they had agreed to stand as a united front; "I had Joseph scope the target out, I put him in charge of gathering intel for this mission. I trusted his intel, it's never been wrong before." Victoria replied, looking at Joseph, who shrugged at the implication that he did his job wrong.

Joseph was a lean guy, everything about him, his arms, legs, muscles, heck even his hair was amazingly proportionate to his body. He was slightly tanned and his blonde hair sat a mess on top of his head, he looked like he just woke up from a nap.

"_He always looks like he woke up from a nap, apparently he's trying to make it look like he doesn't put much effort into his appearance but I happen to know that he does spend about an hour on his hair every morning. It's irritating when he does it on mission. Also he is the Beta to Jayden Sanders pack. Full name is Joseph McLean, level 4 agent, hoping to move to the more public S.H.I.E.L.D special forces rather in than being in our special force team, which comes under the system as Operation: Shadows._" Maria informed Skye over the mental link. The link has come in handy over this meeting as several members of the pack just explain who is who so that Skye isn't confused.

"Maybe if Morse hadn't been so focused on the newest member to our lovely family, then maybe she wouldn't have been caught off guard and then there wouldn't be such a fuss here tonight" Joseph drawled, looking at Bobbi with a smirk on his face "It's not like none of us have notice your arm Morse, feeling a little itchy? Or just suicidal? Wouldn't be the first time there was a crazy bitch in your pack." He sneered, cause Skye to let out a snarl, standing up as she glared at him. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears as she glared at the asshole that was insulting her mate. They may not be close right now, but the only one that gets to insult Bobbi is her.

"Maybe if you weren't an arrogant prick who spends more time on his hair than he does on his intel, we could have avoided this whole situation and have it sorted out by now." Skye snarled back to him, her hands clenching the table, causing small indents.

The room was silent as everyone looked between the two, shocked at the fact that their newest member spoke up. Natasha stood silently and walked over to Skye and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and guided her back into her seat, something that she could have easily commanded the young wolf to do but this would hopefully cause the women to calm herself down rather than rely on the command.

"My little wolf does prove a valid point. How do we know that McLean was putting his full focus and effort into this mission? Like Skye said, his attentions is not always on the mission at hand, having personal experience of being on a field mission with the man and watching him spend valuable hours on his appearances rather than this mission fuels my doubts about his competence. I know fine well, and so do all of you, that Maria has had to cover his ass on more than one occasion and that if he weren't in this pack, he would either be on probation or he would have been kicked out of S.H.I.E.L.D already.

"Most likely fired" Maria chipped in from where she sat, her attention focused on a bit of Sharon's hair that wasn't staying in place. The action gave the impression that Maria wasn't really focused on what was going on, or rather that she didn't care, but the pack knew that Maria was watching out for McLean's response to the accusation.

"Joseph?" Peggy said, finally speaking after describing the situation they were in, she sat at the 'head' of the circular table that they were at. It allowed her to view all the packs and everyone's reactions, plus it also gave her a good view point for their newest wolf, since she hasn't had a chance to meet the girl. There was something very familiar about her but at the moment she couldn't focus on that as there was rising tension amongst the packs. Normally Peggy is more than content to let the packs talk things out amongst themselves, even if it came to an argument, it was good for them. She never took sides immediately, she listened to the information presented to her and from what she knew form beforehand and went from there, but at the moment, it seemed everything was pointing against Joseph.

Joseph turned to look at her, shocked, "you can't be seriously Peggy! Why are you taking their sides? You aren't-" he started, only to have Jayden Sanders, his alpha, cut him off.

"That's enough Joseph, sit down and defend yourself properly without whining like a little girl" Jayden growled out, his dark eyes staring down at his Beta, his entire posture scream "obey me" from the eyes to the muscles to the crossed arms, Skye did not want to cross this guy ever and hopefully Joseph had enough common sense not to go against his alpha, or at least not go against him in public.

They all watched as Jayden and Joseph seemed to be locked into a stare off; Jayden looking composed as he kept his glare focused on his beta, who was getting more and more wound up and angry, his entire body shaking from anger.

"You're supposed to stick by me" He grounded out.

Jayden nodded his, "I am, I'm just wanting you to sit down and rationally explain your side, not whine and become defensive, it makes you, and therefore our pack, look guilty. Now sit down and explain yourself to Peggy." Jayden said calmly, attempting to defuse the situation without resorting to commanding the beta to sit down.

There was a few more tense seconds before Joseph sat down, his shoulders slumping as he scowled at the table, "I did as exactly as I was supposed to. Put agents on to surveillance him for week, hacked into his computer, his phone, bugged literally everything we could as well as scoped information from people he knew. Nothing came up about him working for an organisation. Nothing." Joseph finished, glancing up to look at Peggy, who nodded in returned and looked over to where Victoria and Natasha stood, the two of them standing protectively over the packs, appearing as a united front. She raised and eyebrow in response to this as this was something new.

"It appears as though our target was simply good at covering his tracks, if he were working for a larger organisation, or he is very resourceful if he was working by himself. The most important thing that we should be focusing on is the fact that he knew about the wolves. That is the most pressing matter, is finding out how this was leaked. I have an inkling of who could have leaked it, and it wasn't anyone in this room" Peggy finished, her eyes sweeping of the silenced room, her eyes focusing on Maria, who tense as her eyes met Peggy's.

"You don't think..." Maria trailed, moving closer to Sharon and entwining their fingers together as she looked at Peggy.

"That's exactly what I think, it seems like the only acceptable reason as to why this leak would have happened, especially since the only one outside this room that knows about the pack is Fury, and the likelihood that it was him that leaked it is virtually none." Peggy explained, looking sorry for Maria, who ran her hand through her hair, looking stressed.

Skye looked to Bobbi, who simply shook her head, however her face was tense, as was the rest of her pack. Everyone else looked just as confused as she did.

Peggy glanced around at everyone before taking a deep breath "As you all know, Maria is in charge of this, whilst I may be head alpha, Maria is the one who organised all of this, got it up and running and I also know most of you have always been confused as to why she was never made an alpha, only the beta."  
"Enough." Maria snapped, standing up, towering over everyone as she glared at Peggy "This isn't your story to tell, you told us that this was the one thing we could keep personal, keep a secret, was how we were changed. You have no right telling everyone this without at least asking me first." She stated, her eyes cold.

Skye glanced at Natasha, expecting her to tell Maria to stand down but her eyes were just as cold, staring at Peggy.

"Normally, yes, but under these circumstances, everyone needs to know as background information." Peggy explained calmly.

"No, you can explain everything to them without giving them _my_ background information, it's not just something you can tell everyone, it's personal, it's mine. If you are telling people mine, then you have to tell us everyone's. It's only fair." Maria snapped, clearly agitated that Peggy was trying to tell something so personal to everyone.

"Sit down Maria, it has already been decided." Peggy commanded firmly, watching as Maria automatically flopped into her chair, clearly frustrated at the situation.

There was a few chuckles around the room as they watched their command flop into a chair like a petulant child.

"So much for the great commander, she doesn't want to be a part of this, and I can see why, imagine how embarrassing it must be to be the deputy director and only being a beta in an operation that she started up." Joseph snarked, causing an eruption of laughter.

Skye, along with the rest of the pack, felt that as a personal attack and snarled at the man. Half of them on their feet, clearly intent on thrashing the man but were holding back until Natasha gave the order, but Maria was already lunging at the man, slamming them both to the ground, her fist raised high as she brought it down across his face, causing a howl of pain to erupt from the man below her. She smirked in response before easily pulling him to his feet and tossing him across the room in an impressive show of strength. Her skin seemed to roll across her bones as she stalked towards him, her intent clear as day on her face as she shoved him against the wall, barring her teeth and watched in delight as the man flinched away from her, showing his neck to her in an act of submission.

"Pathetic." She spat at him, letting him drop to the ground, she turned to face everyone "Just because I'm a beta in here, does not mean I'm any less of your commander outside of here, nor does it mean I can't beat you all into the ground. Do you seriously think that just because I'm beta and some of you are a beta, that you can actually take me on? It's hilarious that you all think that and you will all definitely be paying for it" Maria snarled, her chest heaving in anger at the lack of respect that her fellow agents and beta's show her. Ever since she became a part of this programme, everyone in it thinks they can get away with murder and she won't do anything about it. It wasn't all their fault, she did cover for them, mainly cause their alpha's came begging or because Peggy asked, but no more. This can not last any longer.

Natasha walked over and gently placed her hand on Maria's arm and guided her back to her seat, pushing her down and rubbing her shoulder for a bit, making sure that Maria was calm before going back to her seat.

"Apologise" Natasha murmured to Maria, feeling the women tense slightly but felt her nod in agreement.

"I'm sorry I lost my temper Peggy" Maria said, maintain eye contact until the end of her apology, where she dipped her head in submission.

"Losing your temper like that Maria, is really unacceptable. You're meant to be the beta, you're meant to rise above this, especially with a new pack member, however, the situation did call for a show of dominance but it still doesn't make it acceptable, lucky for you, I can think of a why you can make it up to me, unlike Joseph here, he will have to grovel for weeks. So it is up to you Maria." Peggy finished, catching the women's eye, watching the defeat roll across her.

"Okay, tell them." Maria sighed, understanding the situation and that if she simply kept her temper she could avoid people finding out. It wasn't exactly bad, it was just a personal thing.

"Alright then. Everyone sit down and calm down" Peggy commanded. Skye blinked as she felt the command wash over her, and like Peggy said, every ounce of anger left her body and she leaned back more comfortable in her chair.

"The amazing power of alpha's. You've not experience many commands yet in regards to feelings, have you?" Bobbi muttered, pulling Skye close to her, softly pressing her lips to the side of Skye's head.

"No, not yet. It's a weird feeling, but nice at the same time" Skye muttered back, melting into Bobbi's side, any anger at the women seemed to have left her body. Bobbi nodded in reply and simply held her as Peggy began her explanation.

"Before our brief interruption there, as I was explaining, you have all been wondering why Maria was made a beta and not an alpha and the answer is due to the way Maria went through the transformation. As we all know, Natasha was one of the very first to go through the transformation, the very first people who were put through the transition were the people we planned on becoming alpha's, then the beta's and finally our lovely omega's. During the beta phase however, we couldn't find a suitable person to be Natasha's beta. Clint was an ideal candidate out of everyone we were considering but honestly we weren't sure it was going to work out but we decided to go with it and see what happens, but before we could, Maria was turned against her will.

Now, you are all under the impression that you were the first people to experience this serum, you were not, there were countless of agents that were tried before, most of them died, except from the last trial run. Most of them survived but they were weak. Physically and mentally. Some of them died due to the mental link, their brains unable to cope with the change and the rest were dying due to their physical injuries. They were slow to heal, their ageing seemed faster than normal, but not too fast, and their immune system was something left to be desired, they could barely stand outside without becoming ill or their skin burning, but other than that, their transformation into wolves was magnificent, once they were in that form, they were less ill, less likely to die, which of course was not the goal as we wanted our agents to be able to switch effortlessly between the two forms, which then lead to your run of the serum which has so far worked out almost perfectly, a few kinks here and there but those will never be able to fix.

Once we were able to create the new serum, we started out trial runs with the alpha's. Which meant all our attention was focused on you guys and that the old wolves were allowed to stay in their wolf form, we created a area for them so that they would be able to live without dying, they could be in both forms. It was essentially a large dome, that was configured to allow them to live the best possible life they could. A lot like the pack houses that you all have. However, they became unhappy at the fact that they were trapped in there, a few of them had families, families that we had to tell that their family member had died. They hated being trapped and left the dome and came straight to the Hub, where Maria was attempting to co-ordinate the next batch of trial runs: the beta's, when the old wolves came and over-run Maria and injected her with the serum, believing it to be the serum that they received and did quite a bit of damage to Maria, I'm sure you can all imagine how painful it would be to have several wolves try and pull you apart, not a very pretty image, is it? The damage that was done was pretty extensive which meant that the only way to save Maria was to keep giving her the injections and let the serum heal her, but you all know that we would have done that anyways as as soon as you talk the first injection you have to keep taking them or it will result in death, and this is why Maria turned out as a beta, not an alpha. Plus Natasha instantly took her under her wing and cared for her the entire time she was injured, would barely let the doctor, who at the time was Sharon, anywhere near her, despite Sharon actually being her mate." Peggy finished, the room was silent as they all stared at Maria, who met their gazes with steel eyes.

Sharon's arm was wrapped protectively around Maria's waist, muttering soft words in her ear, hoping to calm down her mate. She glanced around, understanding that someone needed to break the silence. Sharon scoffed, looking at Natasha and said; "I'm still pissed that you never let me near Maria"

"Instincts" Natasha replied simply, looking at Maria to make sure she was okay.

"Well that certainty explains a lot" Victoria said, speaking up "So you think that the people who leaked this information was the old wolves then? But if it was them, then how were they able to explain their situation to the target without killing themselves?" she questioned, leaning forward

"Now that, Tori, is the multi-dollar question." Peggy responded, looking thoughtful "Which is why I want two teams on this, Natasha and Victoria, your packs are close and will be able to work on this together without too much hassle. I want you to co-ordinate with each other and begin an investigation into this. For the rest of you, I'll need you to pick up the slack in regards to missions as we will be down by two packs. Does everyone understand what I want them to do?" Peggy questioned, standing, indicating that the meeting was coming to an end.

"Yes Ma'am!" They all chorused, and began to leave the room to go do what was asked of them.

"Natasha, Skye, stay behind please." Peggy called out to them.

Skye looked at Natasha, who shrugged and turned to go see what Peggy wanted. She turned back to Bobbi, who looked calm as she looked down at her mate with a smile.

"I'm sure she just wants to have a chat with you, she does this with every new member of the pack. She likes to get to know them on a personal level. Don't worry about it" Bobbi explained, leaning down for a kiss. Skye hummed at the contact and pulled Bobbi closer to herself, their lips moving together seamlessly, as if they have never had any problems, as if they hadn't been separated for three days. It felt like bliss.

Bobbi sighed happily as she pulled back and rested her head against Skye's. The two them standing like this for a good few minutes.

"Should probably go see Peggy" Skye mumbled, not really wanting to leave, she and Bobbi had a lot to talk about and she wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible.

"Probably" Bobbi agreed, but neither made an attempted to separate, the two of them just trying to bask in the feeling of being together again.

"Skye!" Natasha called, pulling a sigh from Skye as she took a step back from Bobbi, their hands still joined together as she gave the other women a small smile.

"I'll see you later then" Skye said reluctantly

"Later Skye" Bobbi replied, dropping their hands and moved away first, knowing that Skye would have a hard time doing that.

Skye watched her mate leave before walking over to where Natasha and Peggy stood, she looked at them apologetically "Sorry" she said, letting her arms fold behind her back as her eyes flickered from Natasha's tight face to Peggy's happy and excited face.

"So Skye, Peggy want's to borrow you for a while, for something personal. Are you okay with this" Natasha asked, placing her hand on Skye's shoulder. Skye searched her face, trying to see what Natasha wanted her to do but all she could find was slight concern.

"Yeah, I mean, how long for? Bobbi and I-" Skye started to ask

"It will only be for a few days max, I just want to show you something that I think you will love, but we will need

to travel for it." Peggy explained politely, Skye glanced back at Natasha, her face neutral.

"Yeah sure...if it's only for a couple of days, then yeah" Skye replied, smiling at Peggy, who clasped her hands together.

"Excellent. Well lets go grab your go bag from the car and we can get going." Peggy said, leading them out the garage to grab Skye's stuff.

* * *

Everyone, minus Skye, arrived at the pack house. Recently they haven't been at it due to a lot of complications and missions, they were planning on taking Skye there after the meeting but it seems now that that is being postponed as Peggy has taken Skye somewhere.

The pack entered the house, flinging their bags into the common area as they made there way to the kitchen. Maria and Sharon moved as one as they began to prepare a meal (according to the chart in the house, it was their turn). The two of them seemed to float around each other and the kitchen as they got the necessary ingredients and instruments. Small touches here and there kept the two of them smiling as they prepared the food.

Clint had brought Jemma back and was sitting with Jemma in one arm and Fitz leaning against him as the two scientist babbled on about their new gun. Clint was watching the two of them with fondness as he ran his hand through Jemma's hair.

Natasha and Melinda were attempting to comfort a sulking Bobbi, who was sitting slumped over at the table. Melinda had her arms wrapped around Bobbi's shoulder, holding her close and whispering comforting words into her ear. Natasha was sitting next to Bobbi, running her hand through the women's hair, it was an unfortunate position to be in, even though Bobbi fucked up slightly, it was still a painful situation to be in. Being with your mate happily then being completely cut off from her, then to be physically separated from her only to be reunited for a few hours before being separated. It was probably torture for the women, especially with the missions on top of all of this. Bobbi must be exhausted. She glanced over the top of Bobbi's head to look at Melinda, who looked just as concerned as she did.

"Hey" She said softly, gently getting Bobbi to look at her "Do you want to go lie down for a bit?" she asked, gentle scrapping her nails against her scalp.

Bobbi shook her head and attempted to get more comfortable in their embrace.

Natasha paused for a bit, attempting to decided the best action "Alright then, how about this, after we have eaten and then the three of us can go lie down for a bit and just relax, maybe watch a movie?" She mumbled, keeping her voice quiet and soft, hoping that Bobbi will agree to the suggestion.

There was a slight stillness in Bobbi before she nodded her head in agreement and letting it fall against Natasha's shoulder as she blankly stared forward at the wall.

May sighed softly before kissing Bobbi's head and getting up "I'll be back in a second Bobbi". She leaned over and kissed her mate soundless before going to check on the rest of the pack.

"How's it going over here?" May questioned as she approached Sharon and Maria, whatever they were making, it smelt fantastic.

Sharon and Maria looked up from the cooking with smiles on their faces and sauce, apparently, on their faces as they broke down giggling like little girls.

"Good, things are good" Maria managed out, before breaking down laughing again and she spooned up some sauce and flung it at Sharon, who ducked and had the most unfortunate consequence of hitting Clint square in the chest, he grabbed the front of his shirt, looked down and pouted.

"Aw c'mon, this is my favourite shirt and you've got it covered in sauce." He complained, pulling the top over his head.

"Got to say Jemma, you definitely scored with Clint" they all heard Fitz say as they turned to look at the two scientist, who sat close together and admiring Clint's chest.

"Yes I did" She replied back dreamily, playing with the ring on her finger, which she started to wear more often after telling the pack.

Melinda smiled, it was good to see that at least the majority of the pack were happy, relaxing and teasing each other, much like the early days of this programme. She turned to look at Fitz, watching him as he smiled and laughed with Simmons and Clint, he looked so in place with the two of them, it was a weird relationship that they had, but no more weirder than the relationship that was forming between Maria, Sharon, Bobbi and Skye. They have all been acting like couples when with each other, yet some how the four of them have never really relaxed together and Melinda was positive that if they did it would lead to something more.

She walked over to where Fitz was and sat down beside him, slinging her arm over his shoulders and sat back and listened to the conversation, occasionally glancing over at Bobbi and Natasha to make sure they were still doing okay, and putting her own input in at the conversation in front of her. It almost felt like home.

The only things that were missing were Skye and Phil, but even then, she yearned more for Skye's familiar presences than Phil's, sure they were soul mates, but some things changes, sometimes soul mates aren't always romantic and it was being to seem like that with Phil, sure they have had many great years together, more so with Natasha, but recently, there was this drift between them, a coldness that was not there before. Melinda wasn't sure if it was because of the T.A.H.I.T.I measure or if their relationship has run it's course. She would have to talk to Natasha about it, to see what her feelings were on all of this.

Melinda pulled Fitz closer, after Skye, he was the youngest in the pack and whilst she did feel a bit of regret that the only reason that she was holding him was because she did miss the youngest in their pack and her motherly instincts (as Maria and Natasha described them) were acting up and the need to feel like she was protecting someone, or at least provide comfort was over whelming. It was most likely down to the fact that they have never had a wolf separated from them before a year had hit and so much has happened to Skye lately, never mind her being separated from them, just pushed her instincts into over-drive.

Fitz looked back at her and slid closer to her; "You alright May?" he questioned her, automatically nestling himself into her side. It's not the first time that Melinda has acted like this in front of him, before Skye came along, she was a mother hen. He loved the attention, but sometimes it got too much, so he was grateful when Skye came along and took the focus of May's motherly instincts off of him and onto her, Skye seemed to need it as much as May did. A lot of their relationship was behind closed doors, until May messed up by sleeping with Bobbi. He momentarily wondered if May ever apologised for that.

"You're thoughts are loud, Leo." May mumbled, pulling him close and leaning her chin on his head "and for that you're going to get mothered to hell and back" she teased, kissing his check.

"Gah, you're worse than my mother" he whined jokingly, a small smile on his face. He understood the reason May was like and he wasn't holding it against her. It wasn't like when he was upset he automatically went to her or

Natasha for comfort, it was practically the same.

"Thank you, I'm glad you understand." She whispered quietly, holding Fitz close to her.

"S'alright May." He replied, sitting silently.

"How have you been since we last talk? Seems like forever ago." May questioned the younger wolf.

"It practically was, I think it was the night Skye was turned." Fitz replied

"Yeah it was, how are you now, in regards to everything?"

"Much better" Fitz replied, fiddling with the end of his shirt " It just took some time to get used to it and it was a big change from being in the lab everyday and then coming home here to you guys to going on a plane nearly 24/7. Plus Skye joining the pack, it was a lot of change... but it was good, it was a good change. Bobbi found her mate, even if they are at odds ends at the moment, they do stick up for each other and honestly it is a lot more fun having Skye around, plus I'm no longer the youngest, means you guys can pull your crap on me now" He said, finishing with a chuckled. May rolled her eyes in amusement at Fitz's last comment, the pack often joked that Fitz needed to go to bed earlier because he was a growing boy and that he had to always eat his greens. It was a good laugh.

"At least now you can do that to Skye, once she gets back. It's good to hear you're doing okay now, coping. Should check up on my little boy more often" She teased, pinching his cheek.

"Gah!" He swatted her hands away, the two of them chuckling at May attempted to pinch his cheeks and Fitz was attempting to run away.

Natasha glanced over to her laughing wife, watching her torture Fitz and chase him around. It's been a while since she's seen her wife like that and it was good to see, it always brought a smile to her face, or at least, when there wasn't a upset wolf in her arms.

"Food guys" Maria called, as she and Sharon began to bring plates and bowls filled with food to the table.

Natasha kissed the side of Bobbi's head and got her a plate filled with food, "I want you to eat all of this, okay? You've been eating rations for the past three days, so you need a proper meal." Natasha commanded light, placing a fork and knife in Bobbi's hands. Bobbi nodded her ask as she started to mechanically eat what was on her plate.

The other pilled into the chairs and began helping themselves to the food, everyone complementing Maria and Sharon's cooking skills.

"You guys seriously have to come and cook for us, we have to work together as a team and follow at least 50 recipes before we get one decent meal, half the time we end up ordering in." Jemma said, taking a mouthful of food, looking like she pleasantly enjoyed it.

"Doesn't Izzy cook for you guys at all?" Sharon questioned, knowing that her pack mate could cook fantastically.

"She does, but Tori doesn't like having her mate, also guest to our pack, constantly cook for us, she says it's unfair. Izzy does try to teach us how to cook and so far the only one that is even improving is Kara." Jemma explained. "Clint attempts to help, but I'm sure that you guys just know how bad he can be, he almost blew up our kettle and we still have no idea how he managed that." She said teasingly, grinning at her mate who looked put out.

"I tried to make a pot noddle and the fucking kettle almost exploded on me." Clint grumbled

"I feel like that scenario just describes your life, Clint" Natasha teased, laughing at the face her partner made at her.

"Speaking of Tori's pack, are they coming round to ours to discuss what our plan of attack is?" Sharon questioned, looking at her pack mates.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, we probably should do something. Maria should go over and talk to her." Fitz said, causing the others to look at him weirdly.

"Why Maria?" Natasha question

"Because you are about to go do whatever with Bobbi and Mel, so Maria would be next. Plus, it would be better for us to go in person and organise it. Make it so we are taking charge and that we aren't waiting for them." Fitz replied.

There were nods around the table.

"That makes sense, a brilliant plan too. Welcome done Fitz." Melinda said, congratulating her pup.

"Hate to be the party popper, but you guys know I'm here, right?" Jemma questioned as she listened into them planning on manipulating her pack, in an innocent way, but still manipulation.

"What happens in the house, stays in the house" The pack chorused together, Clint giving his soul mate a small smile as he joined in. Causing her to roll her eyes.

"Just this one time." She conceded.

There was a chuckled around the table at the interaction before Sharon spoke up;

"Sounds like the best course of action, want me to come with you, Maria?" Sharon questioned, before spooning a mouthful of food into her mouth.

"No, it's just going to be a quick chat no doubt. Just a time and location, should be all. So after dinner tonight? They can just crash if the want?" Maria replied, firing the question to Natasha, who simply nodded.

"I suggest you go after lunch, mainly so that you don't get roped into doing the dishes like you do after every meal" Melinda teased.

Maria groaned " I hate doing the dishes, but fair point. I'm finished anyways, see you all later." Maria stood up stretching before placing a kiss on Sharon's cheek and left the house, the door closing quietly behind her.

"Time to split" Natasha said, grabbing Bobbi's plate as well as her own and placing them in the sink "Clint, Fitz, you're on clean up duty." She told them as she pulled Bobbi to her feet and lead her up the stairs with May following behind them. Natasha paused in the hall, turning to Bobbi. "Your room or my room?" she asked.

"Your room" Bobbi mumbled back, she felt defeated and it was nice to have Natasha and Melinda taking care of her like this.

"My room it is" Natasha chirped, leading Bobbi to her room. Once in the room, Melinda pulled the covers back and got the bed ready set up the movie as Natasha pulled Bobbi out of her clothes, leaving her in a tank top and her underwear and guided her to the bed after stripping down her own clothes.

The three of them got comfortable in the bed, Natasha automatically pulling the blonde close to her, tucking her head under her chin and wrapping her arms around her. Melinda wriggled to find a good spot, her hand sliding into Bobbi's hair, running her fingers through it.

"You're so tall Bobbi, it's so hard to be the big spoon" Melinda teased, keeping her hand going, watching as the women's struggled to keep her eyes open. "Hey, you can sleep if you want to, we're not going anywhere." Melinda cooed

"Promise?" Bobbi mumbled, gripping Melinda's shirt tightly.

"Promise" the two of them replied, holding the women tightly as they watched the movie.

It didn't take long for Bobbi to sleep, unsurprisingly, the woman has been through a lot recently so much so that sleep was probably the last thing on her mind. Melinda looked over at Natasha, who's face was buried in Bobbi's hair.

"You awake?" Melinda asked quietly.

"mhm" replied Natasha.

"Where do you think Peggy has taken Skye?" she asked

"No idea, Mel, I honestly have no idea and it's worrying me, and annoying. How come Peggy can just take pack members as she please, she should at least give us a three day warning." Natasha grumbled.

"I suppose we always have the mental link if we want to talk to her." Melinda replied, sighing a little at the youngest being away.

"That's if Peggy hasn't blocked her from us" Natasha snarked.

"You're awfully grumpy and pessimistic, does Natasha need a nap?" Melinda cooed, reaching over to stroke her wife's hair.

"You know you always touch people's hair as a way of comforting them, right?" Natasha mumbled, moving closer to Bobbi, letting her eyes fall shut.

"And you are a cuddler when you try to comfort people; or when you try to fall asleep." Melinda replied, reaching behind her to grab her phone, shooting a text to Sharon to say that they were taking a nap and woke them up if she needed anything, she quickly set an alarm before nestling in beside Bobbi and falling asleep herself.

* * *

Maria shifted as soon as she left the house, forever grateful for the scientist developing a new type of fabric that changes with them and basically blends in for when they shift so that they aren't constantly stripping themselves in public. She moved swiftly through the woods, quickly appeared at Hand's pack house, code named: Hub 2.0 (not very creative in her mind).

Changing back, she knocked on the door before walking in, announcing her presences "Hey, guys, it's me. Need to speak with Tori" she called, walking lazily in circles at the hall, not wanting to go further into the house as it was not hers. Plus it was a territorial thing, you don't just go walking into the other packs den without permission unless you wanted to be killed.

There was the gentle sound of two sets of feet walking upstair, coming closer to her, she turned to face the top of the stairs and suppressed a grin when she saw Hand wrapped tightly in her bed sheets and Izzy standing in all her naked glory behind her. Clearly Maria had interrupted something.

"Lookin' good, Iz." Maria called, grinning at her pack mate, only to stop when Tori snarled. She simply held up her hands, showing that she meant no harm. "No foul, Tori, Nat just wanted me to come over to say that we don't mind holding the briefing and planning in our house, if you want to come just after tea time. Gives you enough time to finish what you started." Maria finished, teasing cautiously. As although Izzy was her pack mate, Tori was the alpha of another pack.

"Fine. We will be there." Tori grunted, grabbing Izzy ad dragging her back to their room. Izzy managed to throw Maria one wink before she was dragged out of view, causing her to shake her head and head back towards her own house and mate.

* * *

Skye and Peggy have been traveling for a while now, Peggy was asking questions about Skye's life and Skye was answering them, mainly out of fear of bringing shame to the pack, or the fear of being killed, but either way, Skye answered the extremely personal childhood questions that Peggy asked and accepted the sympathy and comfort whenever she offered it to avoid the two negative outcomes.

At first it had been extremely confusing when Peggy took her away and started asking her questions, but eventually Peggy let her ask some back and it helped put Skye at ease about the whole thing and she was really beginning to enjoy the women's company. By now they had been on a private jet for 6 or 7 hours, Skye wasn't too sure and they were marathoning the Harry Potter movies and Skye still had no idea where she was going. She could feel the connection between herself and Bobbi and Bobbi wasn't doing to well. She wished she was at home to see what was wrong with the tall blonde women, mainly because it was effecting herself (at least that is what Skye likes to tell herself, not that she actually cares for Bobbi and wants to hold her and comfort her and do all sorts of couple-y things)

"Soooo... can you tell me where we are going yet?" Skye asked, curiously.

Peggy turned around to face her "I can now there is no turning back, literally, if we were to turn back we would not make it as we don't have enough fuel left."  
"O-kay...but where are we going?" Skye questioned "Because something is wrong with Bobbi and I don't want to sound ungrateful but maybe this could have waited? Plus I something to discuss with May."

Peggy just smiled at her "Trust me, you would rather be here on this journey with me, because Skye, I've been around for a very long time, and for a majority of that time, I've been a wolf. I was the first successfully transformed wolf, all the way back to just a few years after captain america was given the serum did I receive a dose, the only dose they made, I guess people never learned from their mistakes as the scientist who create the serum was killed moments after I was turned and we have been trying to replicate the serum ever since. Anyways, what I'm trying to say Skye, is that I've seen many things and came across many people, many interesting people, powered people... one of those people was your mother, Skye...We're going to China to see your mother."


	13. Chapter 13

Hey guys! Just a quick note to let you all know that the revised version is up and running in case you were not aware and is three chapters in and there have been many changes so far and I hope you guys will like it! Any comments would be greatly appreciated!


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